Technosynth
by Susimi
Summary: The truck had unloaded its usual amount of scrap to the junk yard. Determined to find something of use, Jay, neglecting his classwork, digs his way through the heap. What innocent instrument he finds turns out to be more than he could have imagined. With music, androids, and allies, the only thing missing is the instruction manual. (Technoshipping)
1. Chapter 1

Luckily the ground around his home was solid, there was something strenuous about walking through soft sand, especially on sunny humid day. Of course there was always some sort of commotion going on at the scrap yard when he got home from school, Whether it be welding, slicing, or some form of building. His dad had a new invention idea every week, even if it wasn't something logical or innovative he always said 'you'll never know until you try it.' It was no surprise that today was no different, and it had seemed that there was another truckload of scrap that was delivered while he was gone. Jay took no time to set down his things and quickly headed over to the new pile, curiosity as to what could have been brought this time. Last time his father and himself managed to find and fix up an old radio; the wiring was a little faulty and the sound wasn't the most modern, but it worked and that's what mattered most.

"Oh hello there son!" Ed chirped, having been rummaging through the stuff previously, "Eager to help sort the goods, huh? Is your homework done?" Jay had raised his eyebrows and darted his eyes.  
"Uhh…"  
"D'oh Jay, you know you're not supposed to help me sort until you get your papers done," He watched his son sigh and nod his head, "But… I think I can let it slide for today, just don't tell your mother." Ed winked. "There's a lot of good stuff this time around!" As the two spent their time sorting and chattering, the sun slowly dipped down out of the sky and into the horizon. Ed had headed inside to wash up when jay's mother emerged from the camper.  
"Jay~! Come get some dinner, it's chicken dumpling soup!" She chimed.  
"I will mom! Just a minute!" He hollered back, still digging through.  
"Okay, but don't take too long, your soup will get cold!" Today had been a bust, mostly just metal piping, broken technology with no way of repair, torn up car parts, but he didn't want to take that. 'I'm so close to finding something, I can feel it' he told himself over and over, sifting through and being mindful of the sharp points. With the deep blue sky fading to black, he felt his own ambition melting away. Stubbornly with the last of the sun's light disappearing, he gave one final kick to the pile creating a landslide of metallic noise before losing balance and rolling down along with it. Unfortunately the landing was not soft, but it wasn't sharp either. Jay grunted and rubbed his head before lifting it to see what broke his fall. His eyes widened as a smile spread to accompany it.

"Mom! Dad! I found a keyboard!" Jay chirped, stepping in and holding the synthesizer triumphantly. Unfortunately a few of the keys were smashed now, but the rest seemed in tact.  
"Oh good find son!" Ed smiled, taking another sip of the soup, "Does it work? Have ya turned it on?"  
"Not yet, I think I broke some of the keys, it looks a little old but intact! Who would throw away such a cool instrument?" jay looked around for an open outlet, only to be stopped by his mother.  
"Now Jay, you have to eat your soup first before you can go tinkering."  
"Oh! Right, dinner." his hunger had seemingly dissolved into the excitement of repair, but the reminder snapped his stomach into action with a low 'grr'. Luckily it hadn't gone too cold quite yet, there was a little warmth to it. Jay was quickly trying to drink it down when his mother asked the oh so usual 'how was your day?' Needless to say, the routine talk continues with the 'it was good' and 'I did this', though his mind kept wandering to the newly found treasure. After finishing up, he took the keyboard out back to the bench and flicked the headlights on, pulling out the toolbox full of various screwdrivers and needle-nose clamps.  
He lifted the cover up, coughing as a plume of dust comically blew out. The insides were caked with cobwebs and dirt particles, it was as if someone had it lying open for a long time. Jay dragged his finger along the insides, scrubbing a little to try to break the encrusted layer. He grabbed a rag and some cleaning detergent and began gently rubbing the scum away, running a q-tip along the circuitry delicately. After a bit more of gentle touch up, he finally was able to see the innards for what they were, and by golly were they gorgeous. The green and brown boards glistened with gold and copper lines, all of which hooking into various switches, sound bytes and ram cubes. To one side, there was a built in record player and carver to put songs in or on, while the other had a sizeable speaker and microphone input. Jay had taken out the soldering rod and fixed the few circuits that were damaged either previously or accidentally by him, as well as fixing the key mechanisms that were dented. Cleaning the stuck-on sludge from the case, he put it back together, the white bold 'JULIEN-40' shining brightly amongst the dark grey plastic.

Plugging it in and flipping the power switch on, the LED screen and variously lights began flashing in various patterns. Along the main screen in the middle, the words 'WELCOME TO THE JULIEN-40 EXPERIENCE' scrolled past before displaying the current settings. Jay slowly pushed down the keys, hearing them chime as he did. He instantly began fiddling with the switches, giggling to himself as the funky noises and beats escaped the speaker. He pushed on the sliders, hearing the reverb, pitch, and tempo change as he went. Part of him wished he knew how to actually play, just pressing down keys at random was fun but not satisfying. Turning it off, he took the synth back indoors where he got ready for a good night's sleep. Tomorrow was Friday, the last school day of the week, and he didn't want to end the week by being sleepy in class.

There was a gentle beep that echoed in the back of his frozen mind. The circuits passed volts like blood streaming through veins, the metal man springing his eyes open, the call waking him from his coma. It was time.

Jay was soundfully asleep, curled under his covers. It was fall, and the nights in ninjago were cold. Didn't help that the camper had a lack of insulation, luckily the blue puffy blankets made up for it. He twitched an eyebrow, hearing this odd creaking noise.. It sounded like.. an old water pump? There it was again! Jay twitched an eyebrow and slowly opened his eyes, trying to register what the heck was going on. He loosley made out a silhouette of a face staring directly at him, a faint glow from behind a pair of sunglasses illuminating the metallic features. Jay squinted, 'this has to be a dream' he reasoned, he was still very tired- well, that's what he would assume had this face not have a hand to accompany it. He jumped and sucked down a scream as he pushed himself against the back wall. The man slowly watched him, standing strait up. Man he was tall!  
"Wh-!" jay grabbed his pillow and held it threateningly, "Don't get any closer, you won't like me when I'm scared and sleep deprived!" he hiss-whispered, watching the man. "If you don't get out of my house within the next 3 seconds, I won't hesitate to attack." Jay stood there, slowly counting, but to no avail. The person refused to move. "Alright wise guy, here I come!" Jay whipped the pillow as hard as he could, feathers flying everywhere. The man had barely budged, though it was clear now to Jay that he had no intention of hurting him. "Who are you..? What do you want and why are you in my house?" Jay squinted, picking up his teddy bear as a backup weapon. The man pointed to the synthesizer and then to himself, face staying expressionless. "You came from the keyboard?" The man shook his head. "Oh, you're here for the keyboard?" The man shook his head. "Oh oh! You *are* the keyboard!" The man nodded and shrugged his shoulders, Jay was sorta right.

He looked around at Jay's room, tapping his index finger to his lips before snapping his fingers and taking the whiteboard off the wall. Pulling the cap off the marker that hung from it, he wrote, 'My name is Zane, Welcome to the Julien-40 Experience.'


	2. Chapter 2

Jay had instructed Zane before going to sleep again to stay hidden and not let himself get discovered before he got back from school. Unfortunately for him, Zane didn't budge from where he was standing after he left, and his mother had found him and invited him to tea at the table. Her and Zane had struck up a conversation, Zane still using the whiteboard to communicate. "D'ohh, that's alright dear, you can stay here as long as you need, I'm sure Jay won't mind sharing his room with you." Edna chirped after asking where he came from or what his home was. He had answered honestly and the conversation followed suit. "Besides, we can always use the extra set of hands.- Oh!" Edna had noticed that a brown paper bag that was on the window sill, "Jay forgot his lunch again. Zane, can you be a dear and get that to him? He needs the brain food to get through the day." Zane stood up and took the bag, nodding to her.

"And that's how we can successfully propel a boat with wind." The teacher instructed to the zombie hoard of a class. Jay was bored out of his skull, and it didn't help that his mind kept wandering. 'What if Zane gets found? What will my parents think? What if they throw away the Synthesizer?' He anxiously shook his leg, looking over the other students. Cole looked equally as bored, mindlessly doodling on his paper. His mom had enrolled him in normal school after his father had died, the MOSPA enrollment was bumped down to one to two hour lessons three times a week. Cole felt the eyes on him, and slowly turned his head to face Jay, giving him a glare and an arm gesture of 'What, why are you looking at me?'

Jay knew that Cole could play piano, but the two never talked. He had only caught glimpses afterschool when Cole would stay after and play for the juveniles for half an hour before heading home. Cole wasn't the nicest of people- actually, he was very lead-headed. Jay quickly looked away, pretending that he wasn't staring. Cole placed his pencil down hard on the desk before rolling his eyes and picking it up teacher had continued on talking about boats and wind until a gentle knock at the door interrupted her.  
"Come in." She chimed, as to which the door opened. Jay's heart sank as he dug his nails into the desk; 'why, why, why was he here?!' Zane held the paper bag, walking through the desks and placing it on Jay's desk before nodding and walking back. The students and teacher watched him in awe, he looked human enough from his pink faded hat and pink rimmed sunglasses to the white-T and jeans, but his skin was a dull silver with pink oxidation at the joints, bends and scratches. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and left without a word. Cole slowly turned his head to look at Jay, eye's wide in surprise as to what happened. The class erupted in whispered chatter, 'who was that?' 'was he real?' 'I want a robot', slowly getting louder.  
"Class! Settle now!" the teacher tapped the yard stick on the desk, "We can all ask Jay about his friend a different time, we have boats to talk about!" Cole kept his gaze at Jay a little longer before glancing at the clock. Jay slumped in his chair, his mind 5 seconds away from a panic attack. 'Please, please just let this class be over.'

By the time the bell rang, Jay was up and out the door in a flash, running down and away from the others as they called his name and attempted to ask questions. He zipped down the halls around the corners and into the backroom behind the music room. Luckily, the teacher doesn't show up until the second-last period, so he would be safe in his own privacy for lunch. He took a bite of his sandwich and paced back and forth, his mind spinning a twister. "So if he was here and he delivered my lunch, so that means he met mom since dad's a work. Oh gosh what if mom kicked him out? He doesn't talk- what if she got annoyed by that and had him send me this and never go back? What if she tinkers with the synthesizer and makes him mad? What if dad comes home early and I won't be there in time to explain it all?!" He took another bite of his sandwich, "OH MY GOSH, I thought he was a person but he's a robot and that explains why he can't talk but why can he understand and how did he know where the synthesizer was and where did he come from and-"  
"What the heck? Calm down, motormouth." Cole had flicked the light on in which Jay jumped and swiveled around. "Didn't your momma ever tell you that rambling's for crazy people or what?"  
"What are you doing here? How did you know where I was- and before you ask, no, I have never seen that person before in my life and I haD NO IDEA HE WAS A ROBOT."  
"God, do you ever shut up?" Cole barked, to which Jay stopped and folded his arms. "Good. Now I have some questions for you. Where did you get that? And don't tell me you bought it, I know you live in a dump." Jay squinted.  
"Uh, what do you mean? One day I found a synthesizer in the scrap and he showed up the following night."  
"You *found* the Synthesizer? No one throws away something like that! Tell me how you really got it."  
"I'm serious! Someone threw it out and I cleaned it up and turned it on. Why do you care so much? It's just a keyboard with extra fancy buttons, its old tech."

"Just a keyboard?" Cole glared, "You have no clue what you have on your hands, do you? Robots accompanying instruments and gadgets- that's extremely rare to come by, especially for the likes of you. Used to be the big thing back in the day, everyone wanted one but only a limited amount was ever sold since it was so expensive. A lot of them were deconstructed and melted down for their metals- aside from that, seeing one in that good of a condition and operating- especially in a junkyard? What the hell kind of synthesizer did you find?"  
"Well, for your information, It's a Julien-40. At least, that's what it says-" Cole's eyes went wide, he stepped forward and grabbed Jay by the shoulders.  
"The Julien-40? The single-most fabled piece of musical machinery even to this day- YOU HAVE IT?!" He shook Jay in disbelief.  
"Uh.. Yeah, I guess." He smiled and shrugged.

"I don't believe you." Cole squinted, letting go and folding his arms. "There's no way." Jay studied him, looking up and down. He scratched his chin, a sly smile forming on his face.  
"Oohh, I see. You're jealous!" he concluded.  
"What?! I didn't say that!" Cole barked, obviously jealous.

"Okay, whatever you say. But hey, if you don't believe me, you could always follow me home." He offered slyly, hearing the bell ring. "Welp, see you after school!" he took his lunch bag and patted Coles back on his way out, a hop in his step.


	3. Chapter 3

The city bus dropped the two off at the farthest stop outside the city. The sun beating down across the dusty terrain was a nice contrast to the autumn breeze. Even so, Jay couldn't help from feeling bad for Cole who was wearing all black. "You know I don't have air conditioning, right?"  
"I'm cold."  
"You're sweating." Jay pointed, to which Cole rolled his eyes.  
"It's not like I'm sticking around, you don't even have the thing."  
"If you really believe that, you wouldn't be following me right now, now would you?"

"Uhg, just shut up and pick up the pace already, I don't have all day!"

Zane was up on a latter taking a bucket of cleaner-water and a sponge to the dust-filled sign hanging in the entry of the pile of scrap that was delivered yesterday was evenly sorted into their rightful piles, as well as the designated signs being cleaned up as well. He didn't seem to notice the two walking past him until jay stopped and yelled his name. He waved the sponge back, lowering it slowly as he stared at Cole beside him.

"Doesn't he say anything?" Cole squinted, arms folded.  
"Mmm, no, I think his vocal chords are busted. He's pretty rusted up, I wouldn't be surprised if he's in need of a few bolts and parts." jay shrugged, leading Cole inside. "Mooom, I brought a friend over from schooool. Moom?"

"She said she'd be back in a few, went out with your dad." Cole waved the note that Jay completely looked over.  
"Oh! Heheh, I must be missing a lot today," He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "Alright, you just get yourself comfy, I'll be right back." He slipped away into his room and gasped at the sight of it all. Normally, his room was an utter disaster; blueprints, toys, books, clothing spread in a disastrous array, but today is was quite the opposite. Clothing had been well folded and put away, toys and objects all sorted neatly on the shelves, books and blueprints neatly stacked and shelved on top of the dresser, and the bed folded and straitened with the synthesizer sitting on the middle of it invitingly.

Cole had taken a seat on a steel chair, mindlessly twirling the paper around until Jay emerged from his room with it in hand. "I told you I had it." he smirked, setting it down and plugging it in. Cole turned it on, eyes marveling as the lights and display did their number. He delicately pressed down the keys, hearing the funky tune play from the speaker. Pressing away, he began playing a song from memory to which Jay took a seat and watched intently.

Zane had halted his work, hearing the sounds chime in the back of his head like a distant call. He swiftly dipped the sponge into the bucket, cleaning up the rest of the sign before sliding down the aluminum stilts and jogging towards the camper. Silently slipping through the chrome door, he loomed behind Cole, gently swaying to the classical tune. Jays attention went to the now-dancing droid, his arms swaying as he spun round and around in a smooth array. Jay was mesmerized by him, just as he was mesmerized by the music… well, until Cole slowed down with a look of suspicion.

In a blur of black hair, Cole whipped his head around to see the bot standing perfectly still and straight faced. He bore the small whiteboard, the word 'Hi' written in a small neat font dead centered. "When'd you get here?" Cole accused, suspicious.

"Well duh, I told you! He comes when it's played no matter where he is."

"Huh… so, how'd you know I was playing? The windows are closed." Cole pointed out, skeptical. Zane pulled the cap off the marker and wrote 'Wouldn't you like to know' in the middle, nice and big. Jay erupted in laughter as Cole folded his arms and pouted, even Zane managed to crack a smile. "Well, smart ass, you're legit. But don't think you're so special, you're dated technology, nothing compared to the new stuff. Not to mention how degraded and eroded you look." He pointed to the pink oxidised joints, lifting his arm and hearing the metal squeal as it rubbed together.

"Well, good thing I'm a mechanic then, huh? Just needs a little sanding and polish and lubrication, it's nothing too hard Cole. Just basic maintenance- besides, I can open him up and see what all the damage is and get it all repaired at the same time."

"Yeah, that's all well and good, but do you see and screw-holes on it?"

"Of course not, duh! Come on Cole, everyone knows that exposed screws are major rust points- it's the same reason why cars don't have any on the outside. All I need to do is get a screw driver and pop the plating off, it's not like it's cemented on."  
"Hmp! Well, you better not dent or damage it, alright? It's a one-of-a-kind, and if it is damaged because of you, You won't see the light of day, got it?"  
"Why do you care so much, he's not even yours! He's mine! I'm not giving him away especially not to you, who, last I checked, had a droid already."  
"Pixal doesn't count. It's not mine, besides, it isn't even an instrument." Cole folded his arms, frustrated. "Whatever, I saw what I needed to see, I'm out of here." He stormed off, slamming the door as he went. Jay slowly looked up to Zane, noticing that the droid was hiding his face behind the whiteboard.  
"Aw, its alright Zane, he's just super snappy." jay patted his arm, picking up the synthesizer and carrying it back to his room, "Hey, after I get my homework done, we should get you cleaned up and stuff, what do you say?" Jay returned to see the whiteboard trembling in the droids arms, the word 'Okay.' writing in small font dead center. Jay blinked and smiled, "There's nothing to be afraid of Zane, I've worked with small clock parts before, my fingers are nimble so you don't have to worry about anything getting damaged, I promise." Zane slowly hid have face once more behind the whiteboard, Jay letting out a chirp of a laugh as he set his books down on the table to work on.

An hour or so had gone by, Jay's parents had returned home and brought home dinner for him, they all sat down and discussed about their day before splitting off and going their separate ways. Jay had grabbed a tool-box and various other mechanical instruments before leading Zane to the back of the junkyard. He flicked on a switch as a few lights lit up the work area. He grabbed the cloth hanging off a loose pipe and laid it down across the well-used metallic table.

"Alright Zane, first things first, gotta take all the plating off and fix it up. Uhm… is there a way to turn you off?" He scratched the side of his head, walking around the droid and looking for a switch. When he reached the front, Zane had held up the whiteboard, 'You can only turn me on.' "Well, can you turn yourself off?" The droid looked up for a moment, setting the board down and climbing onto the clothed table. His eyes flickered and dimmed as the internal fans died with a click.

Jay pried the plating off, sanding and polishing- oh good god! Zanes internals were all coated in dust just as the synthesizer was. He ran back to the camper to fetch the shop vac and a radio to get the job done. The wires and gears were in decent shape- save for the few that had been rubbed down. Luckily he was able to find replacements and enough oil the lubricate the joints and cogs.

Poking around the wires, everything seemed to be in tact. The speakers had been q-tip cleaned and the boards were coated in heat-grease for a little extra protection. The now-shiny plating fit back into place with ease. Now for the fun part; the face. He pulled off the hat and sunglasses, staring at the dark sockets. He took the small sanding needle and gilded it gently across the oxidised parts of the lid and lower eye. Retrieving some nail polish, he glided the brush smoothly across the rims, re-applying the lash line that was previously withering away. He ran a brush through his hair -much to his surprise- that was smooth and glossy. He expected it to feel like a toothbrush by how it stood, not a paint brush. "Alright, now to power you on-"

Jay retrieved the Synthesizer, turning it on and waiting for the results. Zanes optics flashed on, the same 'welcome to the julien-40 experience' scrolling across them as the screen did on the instrument. His optics went white before defaulting to the 'stand by' TV bar colours. He sat up smoothly, surprised by that. Flexing his arms, Zane stared at his dulled reflection through the metal plating, a small smile forming that fell flat when he looked up. Jay stared, a look of confusion and horror.  
"Zane.. your eyes..." he started, watching the droid fit his shades on, brushing his hair back smoothly and rolling the hat on, "is that normal?" Zane shook his head, picking up the whiteboard and gently writing away. 'I can see. I wear these to make sure no one else can.' Jay began picking up the tools and putting them away, "I think that's my next priority then, fixing your eyes. Its uhh, kinda creepy." he smiled, watching as Zane helped clean up.


	4. Chapter 4

Saturday went by smoothly. The Walkers and Zane spent it sawing and melting metal into sheets for re-use. Stacks of steel tied together by cables were loaded onto a city truck and sold for construction and other uses. Other spare parts were collected and set aside of personal projects, which there seemed to be a lot of.

It was sometime a little after noon that the postman had come to deliver his usual amount of mail. Edna gladly exchanged letters and conversation with him before seeing him off with a little cornbread. "Jay~, you got a letter!" she chimed, watching jay run to her.  
"A letter?" He took it and looked it over. Whoever sent it sure was old fashioned- heck, the thing was sealed in wax! With Zane looming over his shoulder, Jay broke the seal and read:

' _Dear Jay,_

 _My mom was a little too excited with the concept of me going to your house(if you can call it that), and has sent me to invite you over for brunch Sunday morning. She is looking forward to meeting you in person(Please bring your Synthesizer too).'_

 _-Signed, Cole._

The two exchanged glances, Zane holding the whiteboard, 'His mom sounds nice.'  
"Yeah, but this is Cole we're talking about, Cole's _mom._ You know how pushy and stubborn Cole is, what do you think his mom's gonna be like? Besides, look at all the other piles we still have to go through."  
"Ohh, an Invitation!" Edd walked over, wiping his brow, "Going over to a friends house?" D'oh don't worry about work, you can go."  
"Ohh, you have a friend deary? What are they like, when did you meet them?"  
"Are you going to invite them over sometime? I'd love to show them around the yard-" Jay sunk down and stepped away from the conversation his parents were having, reading over the letter again before folding it up and sticking it into his back pocket.

"It's tomorrow anyway, so we have time to fix your eyes before sundown." Jay looked up at Zane who was standing very close. He looked down and sidestepped, smiling awkwardly and letting out a small chuckle, "And maybe teach you a bit about personal space, too."

'Sorry' Zane slumped his shoulders.  
"It's fine, your sensors probably need recalibrating anyway, maybe we can do that first."

-o-o-

Sunday showers. Jay and Zane had made their way to the bust stop to catch the morning bus to the city. The droid seemed to marvel at the droplets that sprinkled down from the bleak sky, watching them hit and slide down the plexiglass windows. Jay held the synthesizer to himself, the makeshift case damp from waiting. Zane had placed his hat onto his ginger curls to try to keep the water out of his face and honestly it didn't look half bad, despite him wishing it was blue. "What, never seen rain before?" Jay cocked his head, surprised to see Zane shake his head.

'Rain. I have heard that word many times but I never saw it in person,' the marker squeaked across the board, 'Nor a desert, nor the city from the outside. It's pretty.' He went back to staring out the window like a giddy child, hand and face pressed against the glass as he watched the city draw closer from the horizon.  
"...Why is that? Cole said you're an old model, haven't you been in use since then?" Zane slowly slid back down into the seat, thinking before pulling the cap off.  
'I was turned off for transportation. I only remember dark rooms with bright lights or labs.'

'My existence was a secret for the most part, until advertisers paid more than the manufacturing. I became a template for other clone-like models, but the work fell through. Dr. Julien took the money and fled, and I was put into hiding with a promise he'd come back after things calmed down. That fell through too.'  
"So… he abandoned you…?" Jay hugged the synthesizer case.  
'We're here.' Zane stood up, walking out and waiting for Jay. The two made their way down the street and into the residential area, following the street signs and double checking the letter address. Before long, they found themselves at the door of an old house, newly painted and in well upkeep. Ringing the doorbell, Jay snickered at the long pre-recorded 'welcome' the quartet chimed.

"Good day, you must be Jay Walker, and you are…" The femme opened the door, slowly trailed her eyes up to the droids' face, who stuck out his chin and bobbed his head.  
"Zane." Jay offered, feeling the hat being lifted from his head.  
"Yes, excuse me, I was not told that you were bringing someone. The letter asked that you bring your Julien-40, not any other guests."  
"Oh! Yeah, he's part of it." He pointed, to which Zane smirked pulling the bill down over his hair in the back.

"Riiigght, Well, come in." She seemed skeptical, looking the droid up and down as they walked in. The faded hat, stained tee, the overall dumpy look of him didn't surprise her, yet somehow she felt some form of annoyance towards him. "Please take off your shoes, especially yours." Jay complied with ease, setting the two shoes on the shoe rug. Zane however looked down at his sneakers, which were almost in shambles, yet clean as could be. He had never taken them off before- heck, he didn't know he could.  
"Oh, hey, this way." Cole emerged from the other room, flagging Jay down. Pixal watched as they headed out before pulling Zane down by the shirt until they met eyes. "Please make haste Mr. Julien, you are testing my patience by simply being here."  
'Oh?' Zane held up the board, his glasses muting his expression. 'I would move faster if you weren't holding me by the reins.' She scowled, giving him a little shove before going into the other room.

"You know, I would have never thought you'd even let me step foot near your house, not to mention being in it," Jay marveled, looking around at the various classical trinkets and fixtures. The silverware was living its name, every platter and utensil buffed to reflection and deeply engraved in elegant designs. Pixal headed over to where they were seated, filling the teacups for the two before taking a seat next to Cole.  
"Yeah, well, It wasn't my idea," He admitted, taking a bite of one of the many neatly-stacked cakes, "my mom found out and thought it would have been rude not to return the favor."  
"Well that was nice of her- ooh, are these raisin?" Jay delightfully took a cake.  
"It's crasin and cream cheese," Pixal corrected, "Miss Brookstone made them for the occasion." She watched her guest delightfully take a bite, eyes trailing down to the case. Coles eyes had gone there as well, a brief glance followed by gently nudging Pixal.  
"Hey, now that you've got that synthesizer, how about I teach you how to play the piano?" Cole got up, signalling for Jay to follow. The two sat down at the wooden bench, hands resting on the ivories. "Every key is a letter, and each finger gets a letter…"

Zane had found himself nosing around the house, looking at the various trophies that were hung and displayed in glass. Almost all of them had the name 'Lou' engraved neatly on the plaqus they bore, save for the few that looked older. He couldn't help but feel like he knew him from somewhere, the group name being too familiar for his liking. His thoughts halted when he saw a flash of white and purple move from the corner of his eye.

They had talked through this plan days prior over the letter. Cole felt like he needed the instrument, and he had hatched a plan in which Pixal agreed to help with… until now. On sight of Zane, she knew that she'd be casted aside for him. Cole always stated how new tech was better, but he was still his father's son; he loved retro tech more despite its flaws and clunkiness. She carried the case to the garage and out the back door, pulling the sledgehammer from the wall.

She was jealous, how many times Cole had wished she was programmed as a singer or dancer or instrument instead of an assistant. How many times she had tried to learn on her own by watching other perform or dancing with Cole's mom in secret. She wanted to surprise him, to prove to him that she could change for him- for his wishes… but now this? All the work she had been going through on the cusp of being tossed aside for this?  
Pixal raised the hammer high into the air, the Synthesizer laying as an open target perfect for her. She swung heavily, freezing at the last moment as a loud inhumane robotic scream let loose.

"What the hell was that?!" Cole looked up, Jay noticing that the case was missing. He bolted from the seat and glanced around at the various rooms before looking out the back window. Both boys pushed themselves out the back door, looking upon the failed attempted. Zane had her pinned to the ground, a sneer twisted across his face as she squirmed and jerked.  
"Get off me you outdated overweight auxiliary unit!" She barked, hand straining for the hammer that was tossed to the side. Zane's eyes burned blue from underneath his shades, he glared at Cole and pointed, holding his hand up and slowly crushing the air in between his fingers.  
"Pixal, this was not what we had planned," he hissed through clenched teeth.

"Your plan was flawed, you think I wouldn't care being tossed aside?! I do so much for you and try so hard to do what you want me to do and THIS IS WHAT YOU DO IN RETURN?" She bit her lower lip, eyes burning as they wettened, "Am I not good enough?"  
"No- no I just-"  
"You invited me over just to steal my synthesizer?!" Jay protested, soaking in the situation, "And here I thought we were becoming friends!"

"What is going on here?" They all stopped, slowly turning to look at the tall, muscular woman who held the groceries in her arms, braid dangling over her shoulder. She looked miffed, keeping herself composed and standing tall. Everyone stood and lined up orderly, Jay holding the keyboard for dear life as she stepped over and learned down to his height. "I'm so sorry Jay, I'm going to have to ask you to go home," her voice soft and tenderly sung, eyes trailing to the sniffling droid and her guilty son, "Here, come inside, I'll pack some cakes for you to take back."

The bus ride back was a little awkward, Jay had thanked Cole's mom for paying the bus fee for them, and after so a silence fell upon the two who sat next to each other. "So uuh.. Was that you who made that noise?" He ran his hand up and down the case strap. Zane shrugged and smiled, taking off his shades and fitting them onto Jay's face.

'I said 'wait', but that didn't work as planned.' Zane wrote, glancing up.  
"You said 'wait'? I think we should work on your voice next, it sounded uhh, not the best." he chuckled, pushing the glasses up on his face and looking down at his hands. The droid sunk into the seat, peaking an eye at him before stretching and casually putting an arm around the back of his bus seat."I can't believe Cole did that, he seems like such an honest guy, and then that happens… Plus, when he was trying to teach me, it wasn't making any sense! Fingers have letters but there are other letters and chords- uhg, it's so confusing!"

'Cole is loser.'  
"Yeah? Well I hope he apologizes, otherwise I'm not gonna be able to turn my back on you." Jay protested, looking the other way.

'I'm fine with that.' Zane wrote smoothly, though erased after failing to get Jay's attention. His blue eyes looked down before trailing to the endless sands and rock hills in the distance.


	5. Chapter 5

_The gun was held steadily, key clicked back and ready to fire. The quartet were talking among each other as the maintenance packed and moved speakers from the stage into the back closets. Pixal had found her spot next to Lou, waiting for any sort of instruction and listening in on the conversation they mused. She swore she saw a glint in the rafters, but her reflex was too slow. The shot rang out as everyone ran in different directions, chaotic movements and yelling as people headed for the doors. More shots rang out, Pixal grabbed Lou's arm and attempted to pull him towards the exit but to no avail, he sunk to the ground, arm flopping lazily as she threw tugged. The gun fell from the rafters as she looked up, seeing a flash of red that disappeared in the dark._

He remembered it as a failed mission, one that bumped him back in the world of agents and thievery, the one that costed him a great deal of income. He didn't mean to kill him, he wanted the droid not the blood, but it was too late now. It had been over a year since it happened, yet it still came back to him now and then. Ronin tried not to think about it.  
Climbing into the abandoned building, he snuck around looking at the monitors and trashed computers, graffiti, and rust. This place had once housed a mysterious company that was known by the name 'Julien', after the head engineer. Originally the company dabbled in electronics -cars, lights, monitors and computers for devices,- but after the music craze that gained steam on the late 70s, their efforts turned to instruments. It was rumored that they had created a synthesizer that buddied with a robot, a tall droid that bore shades and a broad, cocky smile. There were seldom pictures and video of the synth in action before the instrument and the company mysteriously disappeared, that of which Ronin had obtained through the grapevine.

He looked through the cabinets and pulled the remaining hard drives from the dusty computers, throwing them into a pack that was held on by satchel. He knew that, if he had found this lost piece of tech, he could sell it for the highest bitter and reclaim his worthiness in the industry. Ronin snuck his way through the stripped rooms, gliding the flashlight into every crook and cranny. He worked his way down from the top, sliding down the rails of the loose stairwells and sticking to the walls as he went. So far, it was a bust- the place had been raided and vandalized through and through, and Ronin was losing hope. That was, until he caught his foot on the tiled floor near the wall. It's hollow sound sparking the passion in his eyes.  
"A-hah!" He chirped, pulling an old water pipe from the ceiling and slamming it into the drywall. It broke away with ease, revealing the full tile and a small latch that was hidden within. Prying it open, a plume of dust released from the stale smelling hole. He slid his way down the ladder, flashing the light on the dust-covered walls. Prying open an old door at the bottom, he was surprised to see everything clean and orderly on the other side. The shelves held various electronics and wiring, tools lined up on the walls and boxes pushed underneath the tables lining the walls. The light glistened against the yellowing plastics and glasses, brushing across two yellow dots before shining against the speakers and more wire. He whipped the light back, the dots missing followed by brief shuffling. Ronin quickly snapped the door closed, sucking down his giddiness.

"We can do this the easy way or the really easy way," He started, flicking off the light and silently moving around, "There's nowhere for you to run, so might as well give yourself up." He followed the noise, throwing marbles across the room. The footsteps stopped and shifted, stepping the other way before bumping into him. Ronin wrapped his hands around the droid, surprised by how short it was. "Gotcha!" He smiled, picking it up as it squirmed and whimpered. He threw the pack around it, zippering it shut and tossing it out of his shoulder. "Now stop squirming, We're going for a ride."

-o-o-

"Say somthing."  
"Ssssomethingggg"  
"Okay, anndd, say something." Zane let out an unholy garbled screech, to which Jay loosened a wire and hooked it up back to here it was. "Okay, let's not move that one, how abouutt.." Zane glanced up at the searing sun through his shades, Jay had been at this since he got home from school and the two weekdays before. Wires being undone and rehooked to various other nodes over and over, he was making steady progress but it seemed that when one wire was adjusted, the rest would have to be as well. "Okay so I did that one, that pattern, that, that.. Hmm hmhmmm.." Jay marked down the arrangement in his notebook, a checkmark besides it. He flipped through the pages of similar drawings, glancing between the wire-board and the papers checking to see if he missed any patterns. "Well, one more for today, okay?" He unhooked a wire and plugged it in, "Say something."

"I can't see." his smooth voice came through clear as glass. Jay blinked, surprised by how calming and soft his voice was- his appearance definitely made him think he'd sound different. "Jay, did you hear me?"  
"Wha-? Oh, uh, heheh, what did you say?"  
"I literally cannot see." Zane moved his head around, blinking and taking off his sunglasses. His eyes were blank screens that flickered and let out a high pitch quiet squeal.

"Ohg, gosh darn it!" Jay protested, "if it's not one thing it's the other- hold still." he pulled the wire and put it back where it was, Zane's eyes flickering back to standby colours. "And now we're back to square one, great, peachy!" he let his frustration show through, throwing the notebook and pen on the dusty ground. "Uhg, and I was soo close! Now I have to start all over!" He paced around, rambling. Zane watched him and slowly fit the glasses on, masking his look of concern.  
"Not to mention the eyes- which were tedious as it was-" Jay looked up at the droid who held him still, being tugged close into a brief hug.

'It's okay.' Zane smiled softly, 'I can see, and I can write.'

"I know, I just… wanted to make things easier for you," he sighed and kicked the ground, "This would be so much easier if I had the instruction manual." Zane hesitated, biting his lower lip. He watched jay clean up the tools, writing and erasing words on the board over and over. He didn't want to go back there, the musty dark cramped space that he had been in time and time again. On the other hand, he didn't like seeing him so stressed… a little bit of pain for a booklet is better than seeing him this way over and over.

"Hey Zane, did you see where I placed the soldering pen? Zane?" he looked around before noticing the whiteboard and marker set neatly to display: 'Be back later, see you tomorrow.'

-o-o-

The broken glass crunch beneath the old sneakers, he snuck his way through the window in which he left when he found Jay. It was a day he'd never forget, seeing him sleep so soundly, arms wrapped around his pillow and stuffed bear. Actually he thought he was dead, but it was still special to him nonetheless. Zane made his way to the back of the building, sneaking between broken doors and wooden boards, sliding a panel to the side and stepping down the small spiral staircase. He spun the wheel on the heavy steel door, pulling off his shades and illuminating the area with his eyes. He made his way down the dark, dusty corridor, glancing at the various lab doors marked by letters. Zane pushed open a door, stepping into the musty lab that he had been left laying in for dozens of years.

Posters, newspapers, blueprints and notes littered the far wall and extended up the sides, pencils and pens left spread out across the floor and desk, computer tipped over and gutted, the monitor left untouched. Various other spare limbs and attachments were pushed to the sides with an attempt at some form of order, lab and test reports left crumpled and littered at the waste basket. He pulled open a draw of a file cabinet, fingering through and checking various manila folders before pulling the one labeled 'Proj. 40 Manual' in bold red letters.

He pulled a few extra folders with similar names, 'maintenance', 'Data log', and 'programming'. Fingering through the papers to make sure they were all there, He lifted shirt and slid them into his chest panel for safe keeping. "Got'cha!" a hard voice muffled triumphantly through the vent. Zane froze, slowly kneeling down and putting his ear to the grate. There was some clanking and shuffling from the other end before hearing the door handle squeak and shut. Pushing himself to his feet, his sneakers slid across the dusty floor and up the steps where he gingerly slid the panel back in place with a loud 'click!'.

Zane held his breath, feeling the footsteps increase in vibration as they came closer. They halted suddenly before landing hard. Another bout of silence before hearing the voice cuss and land hard again. Then, silence. Zane slowly backed down the steps and into the main corridor again, cautiously slipping back to the lab room. He began to organize more papers together, filling them into the chest compartment. He took the gutted computer case and filled it up with notes and articles, the evidence and records stacked neatly in and screwed shut. He glanced at the dusty picture frame, hand hovering above indecisively.

Pulling the picture out, he gently looked it over, looking at the other pictures that were hidden underneath it. The first one being a family picture, Julien standing proud with a hand on Echo and himself- he looked different then, he looked human. The one behind it was silly, Zane pointing to the left, Echo dramatically holding his hand to his head as if he were to faint, and Julien with his tongue sticking out, hammer held to his cocked head and eyes unfocused. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, remembering….

Zane's face fell flat, staring at the image that became iconic in magazines and interviews. That time then was blurry and fragmented, where he was told to not act a certain way or say any words that he hadn't recited. He ran by scripts and false smiles- media ate it up and begged for more. He had awoken without being able to recognize himself, his face, his voice- everything. For the longest time, he disliked how the lights would reflect off of his metal plating, or how people would entertain him with their elementary talk and questions spoken out of accent. The spare limbs were never for him to use, nor Echo.

Echo had fallen out of the plans completely, Julien had made sure he wouldn't mind, disabling a whole slew of emotions from him and hiding him in the back room. It was the first time Zane realized that he was a machine in a mans world, and it broke his heart. Were it all a facade? Did Julien treat him so badly at the end as a cover up, or were it his true colours? He crumpled the picture in his hand, letting it fall to the floor before taking the others and tucking them away within a manila folder.

After taking a brief nap, Zane cautiously made his way up the latter, pushing on his shades and slipping out the window, tower-case in hand. The late night silence drew its shadow that spun with every passerby of a streetlamp. Only the smokers and 3rd shifters were out at this time, it would make an easy trip home. He passed by a few various store-fronts, stopping to look at the mannequin wearing a scarf and jacket. Immediately, his imagination lingered to Jay and the surprised look on his face- oh, how he'd throw his arms around him with a broad smile, 'Oh Zane, This is so beautiful, you know me too well~' and he'd hug him tightly, and they'd share a kiss and- well, okay maybe not that far. But, the colour and style would look perfect. Taking a mental note of the street and store name, he carried on, trying not to let his fantasies get the better of him.


	6. Chapter 6

"It's not my fault you killed me, now is it?"

"You're not helping!" Ronin barked, diving to catch the small android who bounded out of the way, sticking his tongue out. The thief growled, getting back to his feet and chasing the bot around his workshop. Dareth had watched this since the time Ronin had busted through the door, hyper and eager to reveal his new reward to pawn. "Besides, I didn't kill you! I don't even know who you are!" He dived again, ramming his head on the counter and having a trinket comically become a new hat.  
"Guess you should've turned it off when you had the chance." The ghost stuck his hands in his back pockets, smiling in amusement.

"Do you see an off switch on that thing? The second I get my hands on it is the second I drive a screwdriver strait through its neck!" That only caused more panic. Echo ran up the wall and hid on the top shelf just out of reach, peeking down at the furious man. He wasn't sure why he was talking to himself as if talking to someone else, he was the only living being in the shop.  
"Now look at him, he's frightened all over again. You can't just keep scaring him like that otherwise you'll never catch him."  
"Well, you're the ghost here, why not just possess it and bring it down?" Ghost? Echo blinked, looking around. He had heard stories of ghosts, but was never able to see or hear them. Dareth folded his arms, turning his back towards Ronin.  
"And let you tear him apart? Look at him, he's so small and terrified, you'd basically be tearing apart a child! And you expect me to aid in your crimes against humanity? I'm not having it! I may be dead, but that doesn't mean I don't follow good morals."  
"And you think haunting people is a good moral?" Ronin ran his hand down his face, sighing, "Alright, fine, I won't take you apart! I won't sell you either, you don't look like you're worth much anyway." Echo hesitated, but climbed his way down the rack, watching the thief clean up the mess he had made chasing him. The bot helped, picking up various trinkets and setting them back onto shelves, gliding his fingers across the dusty surface and squinting. He pattered his way into the back room and returned with a cloth and a bucket of warm water, getting to work cleaning the shelves. Ronin glanced over, "Well… at least this isn't a total bust."

-o-o-

Jay was well on his way out the door of his final class when he noticed a familiar person and their droid standing by his locker. The two hadn't talked since the weekend, Cole had been avoiding eye-contact since then and personally Jay didn't care. The ginger approached with his arms folded, "What do you want, Cole?" he sneered begrudgingly, "Here to steal my books too?"  
Cole awkwardly shifted on his feet, "No no, I came to uh.. to apologize." he looked down, and then slowly up. "Uh, a verbal apology."  
"Just get on with it." Jay grumbled, spinning the dial on the lock. Pixal folded her arms, an equal look of annoyance towards Cole caused him to avert his eyes. He hadn't apologized to her either.

"Uhg, I shouldn't have even thought of doing it in the first place. I was mad that you, a junkyard boy living in a trailer, could obtain something so priceless. And on top of that, you don't even know how to play it!-"  
"So let me get this straight. You're saying, since you're skilled, and you're living in an old fancy house, that you think you deserved it _more than me?_ " Cole stiffened up, shrugging and stuffing his hands in his pockets. Jay scowled, rolling his eyes and slamming the locker door shut. "Wow, you're really fitting in the stereotype, aren't you?" He pushed past, heading down the hall.  
"Ah- Hey, wait-!" Cole caught up to him, "What I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen that way, I actually think you're a cool quirky person and-" The entrance door snapped shut on him. He sighed, bonking his forehead to it.  
Jay opened the door, still squinting, "If there's anyone who deserves an apology from both of you, It's Zane." before slamming it shut again. Cole looked to Pixal who still had her arms folded, his eyes finding themselves back on the floor.  
"At least you give me a chance to talk."  
"Maybe so, but if you start out my apology like that, I just might follow suit." She cracked a cocky smile, stepping up to him and patting his arm. "Besides, I'm not any less guilty than you are."  
"Yeah, but no one could ever be mad at you for long. From your face to your voice, you're all soothing unlike me." Pixal looked away, why was this having an impact? He was just stating his opinion, yet her face was heating up regardless. "I gotta grab my books, then we'll be on our way."  
"I think you're soothing…." She whispered to herself, watching him head down the hall.

-o-o-

"Zane, you're back!" Jay ran and stopped short in front of him. Zane awkwardly let his arms down by his sides after holding them with the anticipation of a hug. "Where'd you go? You're all dusty."

Jay set down his books inside before following Zane to their usual spot of operation in the back. His eyes widened as he ran over to the yellowing computer case. "Woah, look at this thing!" He delightfully started prying the cover off, face falling flat as he glanced down at the stacks of papers. Zane had taken off his shirt and shook off the dust before slinging it around his forearm and walking back over to the case.

He held up the whiteboard with a smile, 'Hit me!' was in bold letters with an arrow pointing at his chest. Jay was a little iffy, "Like, hard or..?" Zane shrugged. "O-okay-" With one firm 'thwap', the plate popped open and papers spilled out over the table and ground, Zane hitting the marker to the board like a bell. Jay snorted, "Did you go and rob an office? No one told me you were a printer too!" he bellowed, slapping the table. Zane beamed, closing the plate and scooping up the papers. He held out the manila folder to Jay who shakily took it, chuckling still.  
"Let me guess, office reports from a cubical?" He snickered, paging through the papers as his eye widened with awe. The yellowing papers held various graphics and typings all listed as figures or steps. He pulled out a stapled booklet from the notes labeled 'Julien-40 Manual and Maintenance' in bold letters encased in a black box. "Zane… Where.. When I said a manual I didn't mean…" He delicately flipped through the index, at a loss for words. His eyes trailed down to all the other folders and papers that were now neatly stacked and laid out for him. Just how many notes were there? He felt a little overwhelmed from it all- at least they were all labeled. Feeling a cold hand on his cheek, Jay looked up at Zane's simple yet eager smile, feeling the muscles in his face pull his lips into a warm smile. "We can fix your voice with this!"  
'And eyes.'  
"And eyes!" He chirped, hugging the droid. If he was made of anything but metal, Zane was sure he would've melted right then and there. He savored the hug, wrapping his arms around him and spinning him around before setting him down once more. His laughter carried Zane's mind into fantasy land, and everything seemed perfect- too perfect. He dared a smooch on his ginger curls, though Jay didn't mind- or didn't notice, his own mind racing with what wonders and mysteries were stored in the folders, not to mention how much easier it will be to fix Zane. The only way was up, an the two both concluded in their own ways that the sun was going to shine down on them for days to come.

On friday, Jay had dedicated a good portion of class time to ignoring the teacher in favor for reading through the disguised manual. Cole had even sent him a few glances of suspicion, he had never seen him so invested in a novel before in his life- not to mention one that didn't have graphics in it. Things got even more strange when lunch rolled around and he barely touched his bag in favor of reading. Cole glance around suspiciously before taking a seat across from him, staring in silence awkwardly. "Hey, Motormouth." He stated somewhat snarkily. No response. "Jay." Cole stated louder, to which he looked up from the words before turning the page.  
"Hum?" he mumbled, not paying attention.  
"What the heck, Jay-" Cole pulled on the book before jay whipped out away and slammed it shut defensively.  
"What do you want, Cole?" he spat, annoyed and alert, "Trying to take my book too, huh?"  
"You are really not going to let me live that down, are you?" He felt his neck get warm with embarrassment, "What are you looking at? You never read novels!"  
"Well, maybe today I felt like it."  
"Oh yeah? What's the title of the book?"  
"The book title is… uh," jay glance at the cover.  
"A-hah! Exactly! You aren't even reading it! Now tell me what you're looking at." Cole stared down Jay, his dark eyes piercing him into submission.  
"Mmm…. Zane went and found this for me, isn't it sweet?" Cole nearly spat out his water, staring at the vintage booklet. "Isn't it sweet? Now I don't have to play roulette with a circuit board! There's so much more in here than I never knew- like, the keyboard can play records, etch them, play both sides- OH! And you can even hook it into speakers, how cool is that?"  
"Give me that-" Cole snatched the booklet and paged through it, not buying its legitimacy.  
Jay carried on, "And you know when Zane walked in on you playing? Turns out he has a tracker on the board so he knows where it is whenever its plugged in- OH! He also sings and dances! I can't wait to hear that when I fix his voice. Yeah, he came home last night and emptied a bunch of papers on me loaded with information. Er- I have yet to go through it, but I was saving the weekend for it anyway. Isn't this just so awesome? ...You know, you always get that look on your face about everything, huh?" Cole looked up, his eyebrows scrunched. "Yeah, like that face. You get that whenever someone tells you something, it's like you don't trust something until you see it for yourself."  
"Well, not everything that's said is the truth," he flipped through a few pages before handing it back, "but that looks like the real deal. Wonder where he got it."  
"I dunno, He wouldn't say.. Probably something personal." Jay went back to his page, reading from the top again. Cole looked around, sighing and tapping his fingers on the table.  
"Hey Jay, how about you come over again, and I mean it this time. I'll teach you how to play the piano,"  
"No funny business?" Jay peered over the book.  
"No funny business, I promise." he assured.  
"Mmm… Oh fine, but only if your mom makes those cakes again." The two exchanged smiles, it was a deal.


	7. Chapter 7

Zane waved to Jay as he climbed onto the moped with Pixal who gave Zane a bored stare before puttering off. He was a little uneasy due to the last situation, but the assurring nod Jay had given him was enough to calm his nerves. Now for the bigger question, what to do?

He reasoned with his surroundings. Everything loved being coated in dust, even though the walls were meant to keep a lot of it out, the wind always kicked it around and in. The walls could be washed, or the car, or a good clean-down of the camper wouldn't hurt, the sign outside could be rewired again(this time with more duct tape) or the piles could be better organized than they were. Edna had walked out of the metallic door carrying a washer and a bucket of laundry. "Zane! Be a dear and get some water from the pump, would you?" She called.

Zane listened to her ramble on about all sorts of stories that seemed to slide together despite the obvious changes of subject and time period. He didn't mind, he loved hearing stories no matter who was telling them. Wringing out one of Jay's coats on the washer, he clothes-pinned it up neatly next to the towels and washcloths, marveling at its deep blue that shimmered in the daylight. Indeed, Jay had a lot of articles of clothing that were blue- it was his favorite colour after all- but too much blue on one person is a little straining. What a coat like that needed was a scarf…. A scarf...

He waved to the cashier on his way out of the corner shop, hearing the bell gently ring against the door behind him. He carried the box firmly in his hands, a hop to his step as he waved his way through the alleyways. Somewhere between his past experiences and how Cole reacted to him he reasoned that people around would still recognize him despite the 20 or so year gap between his reemergence, and that he should be a little more cautious by day. He stopped to look at himself in a busted barbershop mirror besides a dumpster, he looked no different from the day he woke up, or the days he performed, or the day that he had his flesh taken away- maybe a little shinier? Zane pulled at the hem of his faded shirt, the other hand jingling the leftover change from the money Edna had given him in his pocket.

The droid found himself looking at various suits and bowties, his fantasies had dragged him away again, a scenario where he would approach the ginger with an elaborate box in hand, flower in mouth and suit fluttering blissfully in the wind. 'Jay, Come with me Jay, tonight we are one with the stars. Move slowly with me, let us savor our break in time.' he would say, to which Jay would agree and the two would dance into the night. The thought would have carried on if the price tag didn't tear it to shreds. Maybe a thrift store would be a better place to start?

This was a mistake. He stood in front of the mirror, striking a pose wearing a faux fur coat and a feather-hat, 3 pairs of sunglasses hanging across his face and another one upside down atop the hat. He pursed his lips, sticking a leg out and running his hand down the golden 'MC Hammer' pants. He cat-walked out of the dressing room, keeping his lips pursed as he clicked his heels down the aisle. A snort let loose; Zane glanced up across the room towards a teen who stood there, mouth agape as a younger girl standing next to him held her mouth, trying to hold in a laugh. He raised his leg up again over the coat rack for her to see which broke the air-gates. She tried her hardest to muffle the laugh, snorting and wheezing. He walked over to the two, waving as an introduction before pulling off the feather hat and bowing.  
"Sorry, we didn't mean to stare," The teen started, noticing the silvery skin, "I know you don't get much of a say, but what you're wearing is ridiculous."  
"Kai, I don't think anyone would tell him to wear that." She smiled, to which Zane nodded and pointed to himself.  
"We should probably go before its owner comes back, don't want what happened last time to happen again." Nya waved as the two walked away, the droid waving back. What happened last time? He wondered just how many droids exsist and where? The only other one he saw recently was Pixal, maybe that was the one he was referring to? He wandered around the store, putting back the articles of clothing he put on in their respectful spots, save for the T-shirt with 'I 3 boyfriend' poorly sharpied in dyslexic letters, he liked that one.

"Kai, you can't be buying stuff just for me, you need a coat too, winter is coming," Zane overheard the conversation from an aisle over.

"You need it more than I do, I don't get cold as easily remember?"  
"But kai.." Zane crouched down and peeked his head around the corner, noticing Nya pulling around for the price tag, "Do we even have enough?" Kai pulled the change out from his pocket, counting the various coins.  
"We have enough, and some left over for lunch even." she gave him a stern look, the two staring at each other long and hard. "Nya," Kai started before she sighed and gave in. Zane silently trailed after the two towards the front counter, grabbing another coat off the rack before getting in line behind them. He stuffed a good sum of money into one of the pockets before slapping it down atop the other. "Hey-" Kai was cut off when Zane put the T-shirt on top. The clerk rung up the total to which the droid payed for in full, letting Kai and Nya keep the change.

"We could have payed for it ourselves, he didn't have to do that."

"And what's wrong with a little help?" Zane heard the two arguing as he slipped away, a smile planted on his face.

-o-o-

The pawn shop was spotless, every inch of neglected cleaning had been taken care of thanks to the small droid, he was proud of himself. Scrubbing away some grime from a vase, he pattered his way to the back room to rinse out the rag and wash bucket. Ronin had his feet propped up on a desk, filing through various papers and record books when Echo stood at his attention.  
"All done?" Ronin flipped through a folder.  
"Yessir, everything has been washed and what was faded has been polished." Echo smiled.  
"Hmm…. I got a few questions for ya kid, Come have a seat." Ronin slapped the desk invitingly. The small droid jumped and pushed himself onto the rough surface, eyeballing the various articles and clippings spread about. "Julien. What can you tell me about him?" he had rolled back to a machine, clicking a button down as the wheels in the case began to roll.  
"Doctor Julien was an engineer, he worked on all sorts of various cars, electronics-" Ronin rolled his hand over and over, nodding.  
"Everyone knows that, he worked with a team and was the founder of Julien Enterprises. I want to know about him, like who he was, and how he acted."

Echo reeled, closing his eyes and thinking, "Father was always busy with something, but he always had time for me. He loved me very much, I would help him clean and play music when he was working- he liked that very much. He had lots of ideas- he even built me an older brother to play with when he was away. I even have a picture- here." Echo pulled at one of the boxy speakers on his shoulder, lifting it and digging his fingers into the opening. He flicked a picture between his fingers letting Ronin grab it. "My brother is the one on the left, and I'm on the right, and dad's in the middle." Dareth had floated his way over, peeking over the thief's shoulder. He couldn't help but feel that he recognized Dr Julien, but from where? The name and the company had been something unfamiliar to him, but the face seemed uncanny. Ronin's attention, however, had turned to the taller being on the left. Was that his brother? He looked human, not a machine as many posters displayed him to be- were the two the same? "His name is Zane." Ronin nodded while digging through a folder for the iconic picture. He set the two side by side, examining the features and body type, posture, facial expression. They seemed to be about the same, save for the skin and coloring.  
"What was the last time you saw your dad?"

"Last time I saw him he gave me a hug and told me goodnight before I went to bed. When I woke up he was gone and the lights were off. My brother was gone too, and the whole place was dusty so I cleaned it all with soap and water. Then you took me here, and I did the same thing."  
"So he turned you off and you suddenly woke up…." He sat back, sighing and thinking while spinning around in his chair. That all made sense- it explains why he didn't give any details about the music, or anything sketchy with the doctor. Although… "Wait, where did you get the soap and water? I didn't see a sink or any pipes in that room." Silence. Echo stared at him, eyes wide as if he broke something he wasn't supposed to touch in the first place.  
"I got the soap and water from outside of the room."  
Ronin narrowed his eyes, "Where outside?"  
"The same way you came down." the small droid stared, his eyes fidgeting.


	8. Chapter 8

_He took a sip of his morning two-shot espresso, it was a boost he needed to start his very busy day. He flicked on the radio, cranking the tunes up as he ran the hot water through the shower. It was strange to him, hearing his own music being played on the air waves, but it put a smile on his face. Finally, he was doing something great for the people far and wide all across ninjago. Finally, he had climbed his way up the ladder from the streets to the stars, running with flying colours like a shooting star. "Oh mr. radio man, oh how I love you so~" He hummed, running a comb through his hair with grease to finish it off. Another perfect start to a busy day..._

Jay awoke to what could be best described as 'heavens bakery', a delightful smell to start the day off of, and he didn't even have to leave his bed for it. Zane walked in carrying a tray and a makeshift table, setting a plate of raspberry pancakes down with honey and butter infront of him followed by a glass of Orange juice and a cup of coffee exactly the way Jay liked it. The ginger was surprised at the start, a smile forming on his face. "Gosh! You didn't have to do this for me really, but I'm not gonna complain!" he chirped, digging the utensils into the fluffy cakes. It really was heavens bakery; they were warm and creamy, the raspberry edge followed by the sweet relief of honey and butter that melted with the dough. He had never tasted something so perfect before in his life- this was far better than those tea cakes Cole's mom made, and those were _good_.  
"Wow…. You made these?" Zane pulled off his sunglasses and smiled, his eyes closed for obvious reasons. "These are… unreal, they're amazing! Where'd you learn to cook?- oh it doesn't even matter, I could have this every morning and I'd never get sick of it, ever!" zane beamed and wiggled a bit, excitement sending synthetic adrenalin through his systems. He slipped his shades back on and twirled out the door, entering again with whiteboard in hand. 'Any plans today?' "mhph-" Jay swallowed the cake down, "well, what I had in mind was to work on the electrical systems to the battery- you see we get these big batteries and bat boxes from B.I. to run the power off of, but they're real expensive, I was thinking that if I can get ahold of some fiberglass from dad's work place I could make solar panels to run everything off of instead, so we don't pay as much and so we don't have to scrape by when paying bills and..." Zanes enthusiasm slowly deflated as Jay went on to talk about power grids and expenses. It seemed as though he always had plans every day, never a day to take a break and relax- heck, Zane wasn't even sure if Jay knew the word. "...then when that's all well and done, I can get your eyes fixed! What are your plans today, have any?"

'I had today planned for us to have to ourselves,' Zane started though swiftly added, 'because you deserve a break.'  
"Oh… well why didn't you say so?" If he had blood he was sure his face would be flushed by now, the droid clenched his hands around the board to stop himself from putting them on his power source. "Er, write so, heheh. I can push that all back a day, what do you have in mind?"

'It's a surprise that starts after breakfast.'

-o-o-

"Mmm… that ones more on the orange side, it's like a salmon and it doesn't look good." Zane held up the other shirt to himself. "I mean it's blue and it looks good and I like blue but I dunno of you like blue." Zane immediately put the shirt into the cart, fingering through the other shirts. Jay filed through the various other clearance shirts as well, giggling and chuffing at some of the funky patterns that were printed on the fabric. "Hey zane, how about this one for me?" Jay held up an electric purple and green one, scrunching his nose and sticking his tongue out like a rockstar. The droid paused before making an 'X' with his arms which caused jay to laugh more. Zane loved that laugh, in fact he loved that face he made, though obviously not being able to state that. He was starting to really dislike not being able to speak, though he wouldn't trade it for sight, never. Jay's face was just too expressive and playful for him to lose seeing it…..

"Just how do you fit your feet into those?" Jay pointed, appalled at how easily Zane walked around in the heels. 'Simple change of balance as all' "I know that, but doesn't that hurt..? Your feet are bowing." The droid glanced down, indeed they looked like they were not comfortable. 'I can't feel it' he shook his head. "Really," the ginger slapped his arm, "What about that?" Zane shook his head. "Oh yeah? What about this?" He shook the droid around, causing him to stumble and latch onto Jay as his feet slid down the carpet until gently landing on his bum, 'I felt that.' "So offsetting your balance you can feel that, but touching things, you can't then..? So you don't even feel your shirt on you, or your hat or your shades?" he helped him back up to his feet, in which Zane pulled the heels off. "Well that's not very fair, that's another thing to put down for updates and fixing," he took note, thinking more. Zane's eyes went back to the various other boots and sneakers, he really needed a new pair- or a load of hot glue…..

Zane stepped out of the mall with Jay, a brand new outfit worn with the same ol' style. He looked so much better now that everything wasn't so faded and tattered, and he felt better too(though, it wasn't the outfit that made him feel better as much as it was Jay's compliments). The two walked arm in arm down the street, the ginger pulling his coat closed as the breeze kicked up. "Gosh, you'd think with all the buildings the wind wouldn't be so bad," he huddled closer to the droid, "guess winter really is around the corner, huh Zane?" He couldn't tell, he couldn't feel the cold. Actually it felt nice against his systems, the breeze funnelling through his joints and plates cooling them. "Where too?" 'We should go to the skate place.' "Skate place?" Zane took his hand and pulled him along, nearly dragging him behind as they weaved through the other pedestrians.

"W-wait! Zane I don't own a skateboard-! I don't-" The droid pulled him through a back door and down the steps into a main room. It was a relatively large room that was lit by a disco ball and a few miscellaneous stage lights, the center rink waxed to reflection with rails as a safeguard. The colours moved with the groove of the song that pulsed through the speakers, and people of all sorts of backgrounds rolled around on their blades and box skates. Zane gave Jay an iffy glance, 'If you can't skate, then we can go do something else.' "Are you kidding me? When you said 'skate place' I thought you meant the skate park, not the rollaire! I used to go here all the time with my mom for competitions. I love skating!" his eyes sparkled with excitement, it was his turn to pull the droid.

"I'll get a head start, 'kay?" he was lightning on his feet, tearing up the rink as he went. Zane watched in awe as the ginger jumped and twirled with ease, his processors skipping and fluctuating. He looked so happy, so alive, so... electric. Zane shook his head, composing himself as he tied on the skates. Leaning smoothly over the main counter, he flicked a few dollars down and pointed at the sound system, holding up the whiteboard. The DJ smiled and nodded, giving a thumbs up before lining up the next disk. The droid shakily made his way off the carpet, adjusting his balance mechanisms before catching up to the ginger. Zane silently copied Jay's movements, counting his pace and flashing him a smile. The second the music kicked up he second he paced himself to the song, grabbing ahold of Jay's arms. It was an older song, but he remembered it so well, the second he saw Jay it had been ringing in his head on and off.

" _I'm just a love machine. And I won't work for nobody but you…."_

Zane lipped the lyrics, spinning around and facing him as they went, his shoulders moving in the beat. Jay couldn't help but giggle and laugh, letting the droid pull him along and dance around him, twirrling him around by the hand and pulling him close.

" _My motor cranked electric goes, When I'm sitting next to you. Electricity starts to flow, And my indicator starts to glow…"_

People around seemed to disappear, the lights melting around and seeping into the walls and floor, space and stars taking up the area. Jay's breath got caught in his throat as he stared at the droid- oh how he smiled and moved though the shades muffled his looks, he could see the joy in his broken eyes, oh how they were electric. His face must've told it all, for Zane's playful smile widened into one of pure bliss. He watched at the orange scarf was gently wrapped around his own neck, Zane taking off his shades and sliding them on. 'little blue, you look good in a little orange,' he mouthed, though somehow Jay heard his gentle voice. He let Zane pull him along, reality seeping in as he let go. Everything seemed to slowly catch back up to him- well, until he hit the rails, then reality really set in.

-o-o-

"So, did you boys have a fun time out today?" Edna smiled, passing a plate of steamed veggies, chicken, and rice over to Jay, "I see you got a brand new scarf- oohh, it looks so cute on you, ohh my little blue-Jay~"  
"Mooommm!" he whined as his mother pulled at his cheek. "Does it really look that good? It's orange, but Zane got it for me and-"  
"Oh he did, didn't he?" she looked over at the droid and winked, " Well wasn't that sweet of him?"  
"I'd say." The metallic door swung open and closed as his father stepped in.  
"Hey sweetheart, I'm home with another day's work over!"  
"Work? Dad, it's the weekend, don't you have off?" Ed pulled off his gloves and took a seat, Edna putting a plate down for him.  
"Well that's what I thought too before getting a call. Borg said he needed a hand around the factory floor, said he needed some more metal for a project he was working on so I went on over and delivered the goods. All in a day's work, son!" he patted jay's shoulder, giving Zane a sideways glance. Something about that look rubbed him the wrong way- maybe it was a rough day at work after all.


	9. Chapter 9

The glass shards were brushed aside, the droid digging his delicate fingers into the trap door and pulling it up out of its socket. The spiral staircase went deep into the ground, the dark rusting plates of metal echoing the noise that traveled down. Ronin cautiously made his way after Echo to the bottom, where he opened the metal door leading to a hallway. Everything seemed to be coated in a layer of dust, the lights that have long burnt out disappeared into the dark. Ronin Flicked on his flashlight, firstly noticing the corridors of labeled doorways before looking down at the sneaker-prints on the floor. "I knew it.." he stated to himself, following the prints, "I knew there was no way everything disappeared into thin air."  
"What do you mean?" Echo dared ask, his eyes had been wide open since they had gotten there.

"When the company bellied up there was a lot of suspicion that they all skipped town, the workers, and that they hauled their work with them," He meandered away form the steps and opened up one of the doors, poking the light around in, "I figured that as a possibility when I started looking, but it seemed unlikely, and it was." The room had everything in tact, the files all neatly set with parts and models that seemed shuffled around in a hurry. He closed the door and went back to the prints, "Of course the names of the scientists beside Julien weren't released to the public, so I had to do a little digging, and boy they hid their tracks well. I've only found pseudo names or pen names, no pictures, no licensing or bank information, it was as if this whole situation was well thought, planned even… A-hah!" The light glinted on the plaque with the letter 'J' and 'Julien' engraved in thick letters.

The thief took in the room, everything seemed torn up and sifted through in a hurry, files lay scattered across the ground and table with pieces parts laying about. He looked over at the prototype arms that hung on a rack, some with hands, some with tools for hands. "Dad was never this messy, I think someone beat you to this punch." the droid flipped through the mess, looking at the scribble notes for various mundane things, like how to market or how advertising works, in depth ideals for why certain colours are appealing. Ronin set down the light and pulled open the filing cabinet, flipping through the folders and sighing. He went to the next cabinet down, and the next, slamming it closed.  
"I know someone was here before but who? How?! Not even I saw this place before and I'm top of the line for this sort of stuff!" Echo glanced down and picked up the crumpled picture, unfolding it and inspecting it, squinting. "Sorry, This whole situation is a puzzle in itself. Usually I would have a lead by now but so far I keep stumbling into dead ends." The droid looked down at the advertisement slogan drafts that littered the floor; 'With the new Julien-40™ Synthesizer, the magic begins with a flip of a switch!' 'A musical miracle, the Julien-40™ Introduces a whole new way to create music with its very one robot assistant!* Just turn it on!' he glanced from the picture to the papers, to the footprints on the floor. "Worst part is, I don't see any fingerprints. Whoever got all of this sure knows how to cover their tracks damn well."  
"I do not think someone from the outside took all of these."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I do not know the intention, but look at the tracks. There are 3 sets of tracks with the same footprints, and one of the tracks started from here, see?" the droid pointed at the starting point, the two prints with their heels together.  
Ronin pulled at his chin, thinking, thinking.. "So if we were to presume those tracks are your brother's, the Julien-40, are you saying that he left and came back to collect all of this?"  
"Yes, but look, these papers… they're advertising its function. My brother did not just wake up and walk away, He was turned on."  
"But not from anyone on the inside… someone has their hands on the synthesizer, and turned it on… its in operation…! And it looks like," Ronin sifted through some papers, pulling some more out of a folder, "Wherever the synthesizer goes, he goes."

-o-o-

Jay sat at the lunch table, trying his hardest to read the manual despite the endless thoughts running through his head. It had all started since the night of the rollaire, though he couldn't help but recall that it wasn't the first time Zane had done something like that. But for how long? It had seemed that zane had acted very close ever since he first met him, maybe that's just how he is? He couldn't help but doubt that idea…  
"So, made any progress?" Cole sat heavily next to him, the ginger jumping.  
"Oh!... uh, n-no, I've just been busy uh, busy reading, yeah." he nervously laughed, "oh, hey Pixal, what are you doing here?"  
"Well I have a lesson at MOSPA today and my mom is busy today so It would've been easier if she came along and left here with me." Cole shrugged, glancing over Jay's posture and face. He seemed.. Unsettled. "You doing alright?"  
"Mmm, nahh, no not really," he set down the book, "I've been thinking about.. Things.. Stuff regarding things…" his eyes darted around, chasing the thoughts that rolled around. The best thing to do was ask, right? He needed a second opinion. "Uhm… Hey Cole.. do you uh.. Do you think a robot could uh.. Love a human?"  
"What?"  
"Y-you know, it's just that.. I think Zane likes me- like, like-likes me… He's usually really sweet and kind and stuff, and sometimes he stands really close to me, o-or puts his hat and glasses on me and I dunno.. I think.."  
"You think he likes you?" Cole laughed, shaking his head, "Jay, robots can't love, robots are programmed, you know that. How they act is based on their programming, all their feelings are simulated. You're the tech guy, isn't that obvious?" Pixal deflated and looked down, rubbing her arms from the sudden coldness that had entered the cafeteria.  
"Yeah.. yeah, I guess you're right. That's probably just how he is. Besides, he's an old model, I don't think AI was that advanced back then as it is now."

"Even now it's not that advanced, I mean look at Pix. It's a state of the art new model and even it doesn't feel love, right?"

Pixal looked up and away again, shrugging, "Yes."

-o-o-

"Zane, pass me a pipe wrench could ya? Should be in that toolbox if I didn't put it anywhere else." Ed wiped his brow with the oil rag, sticking his hand out from underneath the engine. The droid looked around, opening the metal drawer and retrieving the tool. "Thank you." The sun was high in the sky, beating down and lights of the metal. At least the cool breeze was enough to counteract the heat, but even his sunglasses didn't help the blinding reflections. The two had been working on the car since the morning, a routine maintenance was in order now that winter was only a few days away, and no better time to get it done than now.  
"You know you're a good friend, I don't think anyone has ever really been friends with jay as quickly as you are. Now I know he can be in his own world sometimes, but I'm glad he found someone to listen to him," Ed grunted and chuckled, "Now if I didn't know any better I'd think you're in love." He wheeled from under the hood, zane raising his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, Edna told me all about it, your day with him. It was real sweet of you to do that, I just hope he picks up on it, would be a shame if you're doin' all of this and he doesn't even bat an eye." he winked, going back under. Te droid couldn't help but feel relieved, the last thing he wanted to do was get on Jay's folk's bad side, especially since they were always so nice.  
"Oh I remember when I was a you man, Edna was the one and on our first date I told her I was going to marry her. Well, you know just how that story ends, huh?-" There was a distant rumble of an engine, a truck approaching from ninjago city painted black with the 'CB' symbol painted on the hood. This was a surprise to the droid, he couldn't recall anyone scheduling a pickup of metal today, maybe a brief switch of plans? Ed wheeled out from under the car, worry creased on his brow. Even Edna had stepped outside. "D'oh Zane you need to leave." Leave?  
"Oh yes sweetie, you need to go hide right now," She echoed, walking close to him and pulling him towards the camper, "They're not here for scrap metal, they're here for you." She whispered, Zane suddenly feeling cold. Everything was spinning, why did he have to leave? Who had finally found him, and how? His legs finally connected to his thoughts as he picked up his pace, swiftly walking through the camper towards the back where Jay's room was. He collected the yellowed papers, which had thankfully been organized in a better binder, dumping them into the synthesizer case before Edna stepped in and placed the instrument in after. Zipping it up, both parents ushered him out the door. "Be careful deary." Edna hugged him before following Ed towards the front gate. Zane scrambled, bolting and weaving through the piles of metal, case strapped hard on his back. He gave himself a running start, jumping and wrapping his fingers around the top of the wooden fence before landing hard on his arms causing them to stal. Using the wall as leverage, he pushed himself to his feet and bolted once again, hydraulics pumping hard as he kicked up sand and dust into the arid blue sky. In the distance the white-capped mountains slowly faded into view….

The truck wasn't anything new to Jay, although it was strange that one would show up today without any warning. Usually his dad would inform the family of any sort of shipments ahead of time so everyone could give a hand in bundling up the supplies. Stepping into the front gate, his breath caught on his throat. There was no way… He stared in awe as no one other than Borg was there talking to his parents, two other workers standy by the truck. Cyrus Borg, in the flesh? Oh this had to be a dream.  
"M-Mr Borg?" Jay stammered, throwing his pack down and swiftly rushing over, "Oh my gosh, it's really him!"  
Borg turned to look at the boy, the sun hiding his eyes against the reflection in his glasses, "Ah, this must be your son I hear you talk about Mr. Walker. Jay, was it?"  
"Ohmygoshyouknowmyname-" He stuck his hand out and exchanged a shake, smiling giddily.  
"Yes, I have heard such good things about you. How you're smart and innovative, not to mention handy and talented," he chuckled, "I came here to check on your uh," he casually flicked his hand, "your projects. F-for inspiration."

"OH! Yes, I've been working on all sorts of stuff! Hold on let me go get it-"  
"Oh don't mind bringing it to me, I'll follow you." Borg wheeled after, Ed and Edna exchanging glances. "I am sure your parents are well aware with what you've been working on, hmm?"  
"Mmm.. Well, I was going to keep it a surprise, but If I'm going to show you I might as well show them too." Jay signaled them to follow, in which they did relatively stiffly, arm in arm. The agents by the truck watched as they went around a corner before going over to the bookbag. Sifting through it, they flipped discreetly through folders, paging through notebooks and textbooks.

"...and so I was going to take the alternator and flip the solar power for batt power to store and run through the generator for electricity. So, what do you think?" The ginger held his hands behind his back nervously, straining his smile. Borg seemed to be deeply thinking…  
"Well, if you're making solar panels, I think you may need some fiberglass, that in a large quantity is hard to find anywhere outside the manufacturing," The rumble of the engine starting up caused him to tense before sitting back, "But I can supply you some if you would like. In fact, I will go fill out an order right now." The three watched as Borg wheeled himself back up the ramp into the truck before watching it back up and turn back on its way to Ninjago city.  
"Wow… did all of that really just happen..?" Jay sighed out his fear, feeling his parents each put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at them, confused by their nervous nature. "Uh.. what's up?"

"Oh Ed, I was so scared.."  
"Oh I know Edna, I wasn't gonna let them shake us down or take you away."  
"What….?" He felt the nervousness slowly creep back in, "What's wrong? What do you mean Dad?" The two parents exchanged glances. Jay glanced around, suddenly feeling as though something was missing. "Wh-where's…Where is he? Where's Zane?"


	10. Chapter 10

" _Hey Ace, We're on in 5." He called out at the pianist who waved back, mid conversation with a lanky-type fellow who had reddish hair and broad circular glasses. They had talked multiple times before, but it was never in his morals to go out of the way and pry. Probably about keyboard stuff anyway. Tossing the guitar strap over his shoulder and taking a drink of water, passing the bottle, he stepped towards the front curtain, tuning his guitar before hooking it up to the amp. This wasn't anything big scale, just a simple performance that came and went as an opener. Even so, he was glad to be performing anywhere, though afterwards he couldn't help but feel woozy._

" _Im sure I'm just dehydrated," He reasoned, smiling and chuckling as he hung his head down, leaning on his guitar from where he sat. He took another drink from the water bottle that was passed over again before composing himself enough to finish packing up the equipment. "Ace, forgot to sleep again huh?" He looked down at him as he laid against the speaker, unmoving. He slapped his face a few times, but to no avail. If anything, he felt cold…. "Ace…?" Everything started spinning around and dimming, placing a hand on his chest, his heart rate was slowing dramatically. Falling to his knees, Dareth took his last glimpse across the room at the fash of dark red that stepped back into the shadows, the water bottle held in their hand that faded into the dark curtain…..._

Snow crunched and sprayed into powder under his feet, luckily it was a relatively clear day or he would be beyond lost for sure. The temperature had sent warnings through his systems despite not being able to physically feel it, yet he carried on higher up on the mountainside. Reaching the peak, he was surprised to see bits of dark grey tiles sticking from the rock, it had seemed that there was some sort of village or settlement that chose an interesting location to occupy. Sliding down the slope, he shook himself free of the snow that clung to his shoes and clothes before stamping off on the hard rocky roads.

The village seemed peaceful at most, everyone seemed busy with something or another and no one seemed to have noticed him standing there. Glancing around, his eyes landed on a tattered and roof-sunken hut that had the windows busted and boarded, a perfect place to hide for the time being, at least he thought so. Sneaking through the back ways, he pulled himself through a window and landed gently on the dirty floor. Walking around the broken wood and furniture, it had seemed that one of the chairs had conveniently been left untouched, a perfect place to rest. Holding the case on his lap, he curled his legs up and leaned against the old fabric, arms wrapped firmly around. As he slowly went into standby, his thoughts wandered to Jay and his parents, though mostly Jay. He wondered if everything was okay, in hopes that he will return to the scrapyard soon.

-o-o-

"Going after those kids again hmm~?"

"Shut it, I may be a thief but I have morals," Ronin pulled on his snow boots, folding the scarf and tucking it into his coat, "how do you even know what I'm doing, I never told you anything."  
"Duh, there's windows you know, I've seen you talking to two kids before from there, I'm not blind."  
"Well I'm inviting them in to stay here for the winter, so don't go scaring them out or I'll get incense going again." Echo playfully swung his legs, hearing only half the argument and chuckling.  
"Ohh, incense huh? Can you get the lavender one again?" Ronin scowled and glared before stepping out the door and slamming it behind.

"Damn its getting cold.." Ronin watched the cloud escape his mouth as he walked down the street, hands stuffed in his pockets. He weaved through a few bypassers, heading through the alleyway and across the street on the other side. All the while his eyes darted back and fourth, checking to see if anyone was following as he felt the shape of his revolver through the inner lining of his through another side-street, he pulled down the black ladder leading to the outer staircase. Climbing two flights, Ronin wedged a card through the lock and pushed in the door open into the dim musty building. He met eyes with Kai, who had stood infront of Nya protectively.  
"Kai, Who else would be here?" she laughed.  
"You never know…." her brother stepped aside and let the thief take a seat on an old chair. It looked like she was doing bookwork, writing down notes on a notebook as she went.  
"Where did you find that?" Ronin glanced across the room to see the coats hung evenly over an old lamp, "And where'd you get those?"  
"I told him that we didn't need help…" Kai started, causing Nya to shake her head, "Someone let their droid loose in a thrift store and he bought them for us, even though I told him not to."  
"You didn't tell him not to,"  
"That's because he cut me off, but I told you afterwards." he folded his arms, leaning against the wall. "He didn't have to do that." Ronin looked up at Kai and then to Nya, eyebrows raised.  
"Huh… and what did that droid look like?"

"Tall, taller than me, which is surprising, silvery, wore sunglasses." Kai rose his hand up as a visual.  
"Kai, you aren't exactly the tallest person around," Nya placed the pencil on the table, chuckling, "But he was tall. I just don't know why someone with so much money would let their robot loose in a thrift store of all places, he didn't look like he came in with anybody, but he was a lot nicer than the other droid we had encountered…" Ronin glanced between the two, blinking in disbelief. Did everybody know something about this droid except him? No, he couldn't jump to conclusions just yet, he was here for a different reason anyway.

"Yeah, that is a little strange, maybe he had too much time to kill," He shrugged, watching Nya write away on the notebook, "Say, it's getting colder and I know the draft in this building gets pretty bad at night, There's room upstairs from the shop- I got the heater running if you two would want..

Nya smiled, looking up at him, "R-"

"Nah, we're fine this year, We can handle ourselves." Kai cut her off, "Thanks, but we'll be fine."  
"Kai, can you stop being stubborn for once?" She shot him an annoyed glance, "Of course Ronin, That'd be great." her brother rolled his eyes and folded his arms.  
"It's not like he pays the heating anyway…"

Dareth poked his head around the shelf as he heard footsteps from the back door. Echo had a broom in hand and dived to his hiding spot, holding it around the doorframe. With one brisk swipe, he slammed it into the person's face, "AhG!" Ronin yelped and grabbed the handle before Echo could do it again, "Sto-STOp ItS JUSt ME." He barked, to which the droid slowly lowered the bowling ball he had picked up from a nearby shelf. Dareth bellowed, laughing and falling backwards through the shelf and floor. "God! Uhg, sorry about that. Security isn't very reliable." Ronin squinted at Echo as he lead the siblings in and pointed to the ladder on the far wall that was hidden discreetly among various boxes and trinkets. "Up there, no one will find you and all the heat rises there, there's a bed and some tables." Echo waved to the two as they passed, Nya waving back and Kai stopping in his tracks.  
"Hah, they make droids that small?" He chirped, amazed as the droid walked over and stuck out his hand.  
"My name is Echo, Hello! I am a personally assistant and radio! What is your name?"

"My name is Kai, that's my sister, Nya." He shook his hand, unable to resist the cute polite droid, "How long have you been here?" As he kept conversation, Ronin snapped his finger and pulled Nya aside to the back room.  
"Speaking of droids, that one you saw, did it look like uh," He sifted through papers and held up a picture, "this one?"  
"Yeah, In fact he looked exactly the same-"  
"And when was this? What direction did you see him go?"

-o-o-

"Mwuhahahaha!" What was that…? Zane scrunched his brow, folding his arms more and turning his head. His fingers tightened against the fabric of his shirt- wait a second. "I said, Mwuhahahaha!" He patted his hand around before opening his eyes and noticing the synth wasn't on him anymore, in fact, it seemed to be floating in front of him. "Uh-" A tuft of blonde hair emerged from behind it, the red eyes peering unsure before hiding back behind the case, "Ahem, Mwuhahah! I have your package, and you're not gonna get it back unless you do exactly what I say! For I am," pause for dramatic effect, "Lloyd Garmadon! Son of evil Lord Garmadon! Mwuhahahahaa!" There was a long pause of silence, Zane scratching the back of his head confused. Was this a joke? What the heck is up with this freaking kid? Well, he did have the synthesizer, despite how easily it would be to take it back, he decided to roll with it. Besides, he's just a kid and he looked like he's trying real hard despite being far from anything evil or menacing. "Woah-" lloyd took a few steps back while Zane stood up from the chair at his full height, towering over the boy. He stared, heels clicked and shoulders even, ready for any command.  
"Wow.. you're actually listening to me..? Awesome!- uh, I mean, Yes, bow before me, haha!" Zane went to go write something but realized that in his hurried state he had left the whiteboard and marker inside the camper. Facepalming, he looked up and let out a sigh. "Uh-" Lloyd set the synthesizer down, arms feeling tired from holding it up, "So uh, now that I'm your master, I command you to tell me where you came from and what this thing is." The droid nodded and carefully unzipped the case, revealing the yellowed and teal keys against the dark case. "Woahh, a keyboard!" Lloyd carefully glided his fingers across the keys, moving the nobs around and pressing the switches. Zane glanced around at the room, not an outlet to be seen- in fact, the whole village seemed to have a lack of power when he first looked around. Looking a little iffy, he wiped his hands on his shirt, flexing his fingers as he sat down and lifted they synthesizer out of its case on onto his lap. Flicking his wrist, Zane stuck the exposed connector that popped out of his thumb into the socket, flicking the power on and watching it light up.

"Uh-" the blonde pressed a key down and flinched at the volume, the droid quickly turning the volume back down before having it pressed again. "Wow…" the keys were pressed down in chords, much to Zanes surprise, the boy played a simple nursery tune in an unsure manner, "hah, I know it's not much. Miss Wuffle doesn't let me leave Darkleys without practicing." Wait, this kid was in school? Just how old was he? He looked young… in fact, where were his parents? He said Garmadon, that name was familiar…. But what of his mother? Zane shook his head and gave a thumbs up, a small smile of encouragement to compliment it. "So uh, how did you get in here?" The keys were idly plunked at. His red eyes were directed towards the window that now had a chair pushed in front of it. "Can you talk?" he shook his head. "Oh." Lloyd looked down.

It was sort of strange watching him, he seemed so nervous and small, alone and living here of all places. Didn't he have friends? He had never seen a kid act like this before, but then again he wasn't exposed to much beyond crowds and lights and whatever time he had spent with Jay. He couldn't help but think about his own sibling, what a sharp contrast in attitude. Zane sighed, if he could find his brother again, that is. He had no idea where he went or if he was even around. He tried to push back the idea that Fath- Julien had dismantled him, but the idea had already twisted a knot in his gut and boiled oil. The Synthesizer's tone changed as the keys that were played sent out sharp harsh notes. He knew his brother was innocent, why he would do such a thing would be out of character, but would it really be? He snapped back to reality, seeing the fear in Lloyds eyes before loosening his shoulders and sighing. The droid flicked off the device, slipping it back into its case and flicking his wrist before zipping it closed.


	11. Chapter 11

Pixal watched as Cole coiled the phone line around his finger, anxiously biting his lower lip. Jay had been explaining the events to him about what all that had happened, and it had only brought concern. The droid tried her hardest not to look like she was overhearing, but it made her wonder…

She remembered her first activation day in Borg Tower. Cyrus had smiled kindly towards her, hand open and taking her off the pedestal. "Hello Pixal," he had adjusted his glasses gingerly, admiring the living form, "Happy birthday." The quartet member held his son's hand- a shy boy who peeked from his father's side from the far wall. He looked angry, save for his posture, but it was a face she had grown to love over the 2 years she had been around. Seeing him worried over this welled her heart with an all to familiar concern.  
"Hey Pix," his voice pulled her from her thoughts, "What do you say we go uh, start from the top again?" He had set the phone down, smiling masking the worry, "let me just reset the vinyl again-"  
"So Zane is missing?" He tensed his shoulders, holding the needle.  
"Yeah, him and everything else about him too."  
"And you're worried about him?" her voice was dulled as she kept her gaze afar.  
"No," he set the needle down again, "No, no I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about Jay.. And I'm worried about you. You've been distant." Now it was her turn to stiffen. Was it really that obvious? Her mind had been wandering ever since lunch time, and maybe it showed through during the tango lesson at MOSPA. His words had been echoing through her head, 'I mean look at Pix. It's a state of the art new model and even it doesn't feel love, right?' Right? "Are you okay?-"  
"Yes," her words came swiftly, "I- I am simply malfunctioning. I… my ESC is broken." Of course, the Emotional Supressor Chip, that was the reason for all of this. The reason why she felt butterflies whenever Cole pulled her around elegantly across the stage floor, how he swayed and held her with gentle fingers and a caring smile, how he'd carry her when she falsely complained about her feet killing her, that was all because it was busted of course. Robots can't feel love, it's a malfunction. "We should call in for an appointment."

"Yeah, good idea. Maybe when we go then we can ask Doctor B what that whole thing was about too." He began pegging on the rotary, dialing up the number….

-o-o-

"G…" Zane shook his head. "Uh, G…?" Lloyd had been testing the keyboard, taking a sharpie with tape and labeling the keys. He had snuck sheet music from Darkleys into his back pocket to practice, Zane helping him along and pointing at the keys and notes. Another label was set on, the boy looking at the forming pattern. "Oh! I got it," The droid pulled his hand back and smiled as the labels were put down in the correct pattern. Lloyd rested his small fingers on the keys, squinting at the music and glancing down at his hand to which he moved the fingers accordingly. It was a slow process starting, and as he struggled and corrected himself, Zane's hearing was drawn outside.

The voices were muffled, the muted ball being hit and shouts being let out. His eyes wandered over to the window were he pushed himself up to steal a glance. It was a group of kids playing with the leather ball in the square, laughing and waving their arms. The ball was hit a little far and as the kid went over to pick it up, he stole a glance towards the window and scrunched his face. "They don't really like me," Zane jumped, lloyd standing close to the window, "None of the others want to play with me, and I didn't even do anything." He sighed, looking glum. The droid tilted his head, that was a little odd of them, there didn't seem to be anything inherently wrong with Lloyd. Sure, he had red eyes, maybe he tries to pull off the evil facade a lot… the only logical conclusion he drew was that he went to Darkleys. Zane tapped his shoulder and pointed to himself, smiling.

The two stood a little aways from a snowy valley between mountains, a rickety board on hand. He gave Lloyd a push sending him flying down the slope and straight into an invisible snowbank. The droid followed suit, throwing himself down in the snow and tumbling after into the snowbank. He popped his head out, smiling as lloyd laughed. Funny though, everything seemed brighter than it was before…. He glanced at the boy who seemed at a loss for words before looking at the hat and glasses that laid half buried in the snow. Man, he really needs to get his eyes fixed. "Woahh…. That's so cool!" he chirped, the droid pausing in the process of putting them back on, "aw…" Zane swiftly pulled the glasses away and stuck them on his shirt collar, Lloyd smiling once more. "Let's go again!" he was eager to run back up the hill, the droid happily trailing after.

By nightfall, Lloyd was passed out on the chair, ragged blankets wrapped around him as well as the empty case being used as a sleeping bag. Zane sat along the far side, holding the instrument on his lap. His mind had once more gone to Jay- oh what was he doing now? Had he forgotten him..? Was he hurt or lost? Especially after getting so close to kissing his cute face, he swore the ginger felt the same now. Slowly looking back to the case bundle, he started thinking about his own brother again. If only he had a radio tower, he would contact him and ask if he wanted a new friend. That would require him to leave the facility of course, he knew his brother was awake, he did wake him up, didn't he? He just needed a good signal to radio the message through… and what a perfect metal beam to use for it.

-o-o-

Echo had tended to cleaning the attic as Ronin continued to chart the path at which the droid went from the security feed. He had a big map out, putting red dots and connecting them together. "Anything yet?" Kai was leaning against the far wall in his PJs observing this process. "Who would've knew that the droid was the fabled Julien-40, heh. I didn't even know it was a thing until you said so." He swiveled the mug of warm milk around before taking a drink.

"It looks like… we have an area." The thief drew the lines on the map, a range pointing outward from the city into the desert. "Now to see if anything is actually out there." Ronin glanced around before reaching for his coat and hat. Echo watched him put on his things before hearing the static come from his speakers. Ronin stopped with only a foot out the door, swiveling to stare at the droid. He knew that noise far too well as Echo stared back, eyes wide as the knob was tuned. A series of blips and beeps were emitted, codes in morse coming through.

'Echo. Period. It is your brother. Period. Where are you. Period. I have someone who would like to meet you. Period.I tried radioing home. No one picked up. Period. What are your coordinates. Period.' A smile spread across Ronin's face as he closed the door.  
"Well then, wouldn't want to keep your brother on the line," he sucked down his excitement, "Here, let me plug in the coordinates." Echo watched in horror, frozen in fear as the thief gladly morsed the numbers back. "This day just couldn'tve gotten any easier, haha!"

"Uh oh, this can't be good…" Dareth huffed, appearing from the wall.  
"aHH!" Kai Jumped and nearly shrieked, holding his heart as the ghost laughed.  
"What, never seen a ghost before?" he looked down at his mug of warm milk before going over to dump it into the sink. "Uh, Kid you aren-"  
"I am going to bed Ronin I'm.. I've had enough tonight I think." He held his head, making his way up the half hidden ladder. Dareth frowned.


	12. Chapter 12

Jay had been miserable these past few days. Sure he had been going to school, but his attention was drawn away from learning or tinkering or was dissolved completely. He couldn't stop thinking about all that had happened, more importantly Zane. He was missing, the synth was missing, and the manual was missing, all gone on the same day. Now here he was at school and his friend was missing as well. Suppose it was bad enough that he only noticed now when he was leaving after the final bell. Maybe he really did love zane… maybe what Cole said was wrong… maybe Zane did love him back… he wouldn't know, and now he was becoming afraid to. Hopefully at home he will be able to work on something, though progress on anything these few days were slow.

-o-o-

"Wooaahh!" Lloyd sat upon Zane's shoulders, short cape drifting behind in the cold wind, "I only saw the city in pictures, I never thought it would be so big." his eyes darted around to all sorts of buildings and signs, people and vehicles. The city was buzzing with life as it did, puffs of white smoke escaping into the cold winter air. Lloyd didn't mind the cold, he was used to the more frigid temperatures the mountains had, heck he even wore his hoodie around his waist. Zane seemed invested on following the coordinates he was instructed, ever drawing near as he walked calmly. It struck him as strange that his brother would be all the way on the other side of the city hiding somewhere, but maybe he wasn't hiding at all. He wasn't sure Echo even cares that he was moving about, he was asleep for a long time, maybe he went to explore. He was a curious little droid after all.

Before long he found himself staring at the front door of a pawn shop, the case strapped to his back. Zane knelt down letting lloyd off his shoulders before pushing open the door that chimed. The man with the red hat beamed from the counter, Echo emerging from the back room. Dareth floated nearby, Lloyds eyes immediately going to him first before getting a better scope of the room.  
"Ah, glad you made it, come in We've been expecting you," the clerk smiled letting the words run off his tongue. Zane stepped into the room more, kneeling down as the small droid ran and jumped into his brothers arms. The synth tapped on Lloyds shoulder and pointed at Echo, who smiled and offered his hand.  
"Hello! I am Echo, I am a personal assistant and radio! What is your name?"  
"Oh, my name's Lloyd, I'm just a kid." He shyly shook the droids' hand, his radiant smiling too inviting to deny. "Uh, so what's a radio?" The droid chuckled, going to explain while Zane picked both of them up in his arms. Glancing around awkwardly, he swiveled on his heels and made his way back towards the door.

"Aye- HEYwWaIT-" Ronin skidded to a stop in front of the door, "I don't think you'll be leaving with him," he pointed to Echo. "You see, I can't let one of you leave, that's losing a profit, an asset. One has to replace the other uhh-"  
Dareth facepalmed, "You didn't practice your lines, did you? You got excited and you totally messed this up. Just let them go." Zane stared through the thief who was sweating bullets, thinking. If he leaves then these Lloyd doesn't get a friend, and Echo stay here without a new friend…. But if he stays.. Then they both are friends and can make their way back to the mountains or wherever. He didn't want to go back to the mountains, it was farther away to Jay than from here, and he was really starting to miss that guy. Besides, the likelihood of Jay coming here than there was greater, so maybe… Zane set the two down and stepped back.  
"There we go, see? Not that hard," Ronin opened the door and let the two out, Echo giving Zane a worried glance before the door closed, "Now, just make yourself comfortable, I have a phone call to make." Dareth seemed to be in disbelief that all of this was working out.

-o-o-

Cole sat behind Pixal on the moped as they sped down towards the large spire in the middle of the city. She hadn't been there since over a year ago for her yearly checkup. She missed it last time, but better late than never. Stepping up the stairs into the building, the man at the front counter waved them down. "Hello! Can I help you?"  
"Yes, This is Cole Brookstone and this is my droid, Pixal, we have a checkup scheduled today?"  
"Oh yes, right away. I will just mark that you're here and you'll want to head up to level 42, he's waiting for you there. Have a nice day!" The elevator ride was silent, they both seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Pixal stuffed her hands in her pockets as Cole had done with his own coat, the door opening with a ding. Hopefully she could get the right replacement part, maye then she'd stop feeling so strange and all over the place. Silently walking down the corridor, Cole went over by the window letting Pixal head to the door to his office.

'It's the real deal, Doc.' the voice caught her off guard. She had never heard it before, perhaps there was a mix up with scheduling? Stepping in, her eyes locked on the man with the red straw hat… It was instant, from her arm the revolver popped from her plating that flew to the ground, the shot ringing out piercing through his skull as he spiraled and slammed against the floor. Before she could reload another shot rang out, the bullet shattering her hand before another blasted her arm clean off. She braced for the next shot that never came, Ronin holding the gun shaking, his eyes looking beyond her to the shaggy-haired man with the face a spitting image of the man he had killed. Cole grabbed Pixal and ran down the hall, his thoughts racing faster than his actions as he slammed the buttons in the elevator vigorously.

Ronin sluggishly looked around the room, the chunks of his skull and blood splattered across and what seemed to be a silvery object. At least the bullet went through, but from where? His head was screaming as he ran his fingers along the backside of it. No, no hole.. His eyes went up to the man in the wheelchair that had hid himself behind the tall tarped figure before, the glasses reflecting pure white that hid his eyes and face. Vision swimming from it all, the world around him melted and faded away….

-o-o-

"So you're a ghost?" Kai asked, mystified by the floating green rockstar.  
"Yeah, no one can see me though, no one besides other people. Echo over there? Not even a sound." He nodded his chin to the sleeping droid and Lloyd who had used a box and a few pillows for comfort. Dareth was quick to invite them back in when Ronin scurried off, but it had been a few days now and the thief had no show. "Kinda bummed about it, would love for him to put on a few stations and jam." The topic at hand was masking his worry. In fact, it was masking everyone's worry. Not even Nya was asleep, and normally by now at 3 AM she would be beyond it. No one knew what happened to him, but perhaps that was just the plan, get the synth and leave high and dry.

"How did you end up here of all places?" Nya absentmindedly asked from the counter.  
Dareth thought about it, "Well Ronin killed me, I was just doing one of my gigs when my bandmates and I were poisoned to death. Now I haunt him until he… well, until I'm done haunting him I suppose, I dunno I only died once and I never really know how these things work. I think I'm cursed to an object in here but I can't remember." the two siblings exchanged equal glances of disbelief. "What?"  
"It's not that you're wrong Dareth, I just can't see him doing that. He's not a murderer, he's a thief. Are you sure it as him?"

"Oh yes I know it was him, he had red on his head, so I know it as him. He can keep trying to deny it but I never forget something like that."

"Red? Was he wearing any other colours?"  
"If it was Ronin who killed you and your bandmates, don't you think they would be here too?" Kai added to the conversation.  
"Maybe they got lost- and uh, no he was just wearing red and black. Red gloves, black attire, red hat."

"And when has Ronin ever worn black, he always wears these camouflage colours but never black." Dareth paused, thinking about it. Yeah, that is a little weird, he had never seen the thief wear dark colours like that before. In fact, he had never seen any sort of poisons or weapons around aside from the revolver and a few switchblades. Maybe he really didn't do it…

"Well shoot, then I've been making this guys life hell for no reason haven't I? Uuhg! Shoot!" he bellowed, sinking into the floor and grumbling.

-o-o-

"There you go, that should be it." Jay flicked his goggles up, snapping the white plating into place and putting the arm back. The mirrored replica arm was snapped into place as well, although the colour itself was off. He didn't have any white paint that would've matched the rest of her body, luckily the arm wasn't too intricate. Cole tossed the busted socket around in his hands, digging his fingers into the metal and wires.

"You can't paint it?"

"No, Cole, I told you for the upteenth time, I don't have the right paint color. You're just going to have to explain to your mom what happened and get it over with." the ginger sighed, going to the back of her and pressing the buttons down under her neck plating. The circuitry lit up green as she straightened and opened her eyes. "There, can you feel that now?"  
She flexed her other hand, it was a little stiff starting out, but as she moved it Jay applied oil to the joints. "Yes, this will do perfectly. Although fingers 1 and 2 tend to want to move together…"  
"It's perfect Jay, thankyou" Cole assured, holding Pixal by the shoulders. Jays hard tired gaze fell back to the tools that he started to clean up. "Now how am I going to explain this to her, she comes home today from her trek… Who was that person Pix?"  
"I will explain it all, do not worry Cole. We are not going back there until this is all situated." She assured, Jay throwing a wrench into the bucket loudly.  
"I always thought Borg was this cool scientist guy, but it turns out he's just a huge jerk!" he tossed another harsh wrench into the bucket, "The worst part is I don't even know where Zane is, and now this on top of it? Uhg!"

"Perhaps Mr. Borg has him. When I went in, I heard the killer talking about 'the real deal', there was a tarped object of some sort. I would not deny that that wasn't him-"  
"GREAT! So on top of making deals with shady people, scaring my parents AND letting your arm get shot off, he stole zane?! Peachy, just peachy!" He flailed his arms, kicking the bucket over. Cole and Pixal exchanged glances.

"Oh come on now jay," Cole started, "If you want I can save up for a new droid for you- it can be customized and it'll be brand ne-"  
"NO, COLE," he shrieked, "Zane can't be replaced! You know, I've had a lot of time to think about what you said to me before all of this started happening and you're wrong! Zane was never just some rare synthesizer worth a fortune, to me he was worth nothing, he was priceless, he made me smile when I felt bad, sure he was a little creepy sometimes with all the starting, but he never meant harm. I think you're mistaken Cole, Robots can love, and it's not based on coding or 'how they are', not everything that's a droid is a machine, they're just as human as you or I Cole, and telling them they're not just hurts them more. I love him Cole, I love him and maybe he already knows that, but I don't want a replacement, there'll never be a replacement from the hole his absence has created in my heart." Jay panted, wiping his eyes. "Go home Cole, I fixed her arm so just, go home." he sputtered.


	13. Chapter 13

He was a little foggy about this all, the bright lab lights sure didn't help the headache he had. Ronin groaned and threw an arm around his eyes, trying to remember where he was before and where he could possibly be. Last he remembered was the office in Borg tower, he had made a deal that if he could retrieve the synthesizer and deliver it, not only would he get paid but he would also be redeemed in the world of thieves once more. There were gunshots, Lou's robot blasted him and then scampered off.. Oh shoot.  
Ronin slowly moved his arm and glided his fingers over the side of his face, the smooth metal plating felt more like a mask than anything. Not that he could feel it on his face, but it definitely was imbedded in there. He covered his good eye to see if there was any other eye there, and to his surprise there was, the numbers changing slightly at the bottom of his field of view. "Uhg…" Sitting up, Ronin rubbed his face once more before getting a good look at the room. It seemed to be another lab room of some sort, a tool box and some metal plating on a distant table while his red hat and a glass of water waited for him patiently on a nearby desk. Taking both, he made his way around towards the door and down the hall. At least he knew the facility somewhat, he had snuck in there time and time before and this level wasn't anything new to him, he was close to the ground floor judging by the signage on the doorways. It sounded like the factory lines were running, which was nothing new but it definitely didn't help his headache.

Slipping his way through one of the many doors, he found himself face to face with the very droid he had stolen. His chest was open, circuits and wires hooked up to a computer for reading, though borg seemed to have left for the time being. Zane's eyes onlined and stared at Ronin briefly before breaking again, though the droid didn't stop staring.  
"Hey, where's the doc?" He chuckled, making his way over to the basically free information that was being displayed on the monitor. "Ooh, looks like he disabled your motor functions, smart move. You know you were hell to find, but everyone still knows jack about The Doctor, do you remember anything?" It was not like Zane could reply, nor did he have a say against him. Ronin smiled and flicked a USB from his pocket and stuck it into the computer, "Don't mind if I do." The droid felt the files being read and copied as he tried his hardest to protest. A low gargle escaped his voice before increasing to a loud static noise filled with warped yelling.

Borg had been wheeling himself back down the hall when he heard it. Wheeling faster now towards the door, he pushed it open swiftly to find nothing had been touched save for one thing. A sticky note placed on the monitor that read 'thanks doc' with a few stars and a winking face. His eyes trailed to the open window before going back to Zane who swiftly quieted himself. "Oh we'll let him go, he did hold up his end of the bargain after all," Borg typed away at the computer, "Now, let's see if we can fix these issues shall we?" He seemed to have been staring at the encrypted coding for awhile, Zane's thoughts normally would be wandering by now, but he was afraid that may let whatever little guard he had up down. "How fascinating, you and your instrument seem to work only in tandem to each other. Every part of missing coding here is on there and vise versa, its as if your two components are supposed to work as one. I want you to hum something for me would you?"

Zane thought about a tune, something he heard on the radio the other day while thrifting, and proceeded to replicate it through his garbled voice. As Cyrus pressed down on the keys however, his voice became gradually more clear, and the melody followed the chords struck. Even his eyes seemed to fix themselves, the whites of his eyes actually being white while his irises shone a bright blue. The doctor smiled, satisfied with the results being spelt out on the monitor, " Yes just as I theorized, they lined up perfectly. Though when I stop," he let go, and once more the changes reverted, "they unalign. Perhaps they are working on different speeds, and a clock isn't too hard to fix is it? I'll just have to find out where it is put, and who's correcting who. So, if you wouldn't mind humming again?"

-o-o-

Ronin made his way through the city towards his pawn shop the usual way he went dodging and weaving through buildings. Even so, he couldn't help but feel as though he was being watched by someone. Glancing back and finding no one, he began to reroute himself in a different direction. He pushed himself through an old building and out the other side, weaving and repeating the pattern. He entered an old stage building and made his was across the stage door and opened the other side, ramming into someone and falling back. His eyes stared at the heels that slowly trailed up, more and more until he finally reached the angry face of the very tall muscular he could crawl back, she reached down and grabbed him by the collar of his suit, letting his feet dangle from the ground. "What is your name." it didn't sound like a question as much more of a demand.  
"R-ronin-"  
"Ronin," the R was rolled, "Of course such a petty-named man would do such petty crimes against my family." She carried him slowly into the center stage with one hand. "And for what? Money? Power? Who sent you?" The stagelight flicked on and shined down upon the scene, their shadows cast deep against the velvet curtains.

His mind ran circles desperately trying to find the proper answer. "I-" one of the doors slammed closed as he glanced back at the shaggy kid that he saw before. Then to the side, he noticed the glint of silver that emerged into the light, the android walking closer from the seats. "Woah, hey, hahah, This is just a big misunderstanding you see-"  
"What makes you think you would get away with all of this, the assassination and the attempt you made? How long can you run before your shadow swallows you whole?" her grip tightened, "I will ask you this once more only, Who sent you?" By now all three of them were surrounding him, each with an equal stare of hatred.

"I-it was.. The GSS- b-but he wasn't my target I swear, I'm not- I didn't mea-" He was thrown to the ground and picked up again by the neck.  
"I don't care if he wasn't your target you killed him you murderer, and nothing will pay enough for you to make up for that." Cole's mom hissed as he struggled, her grip getting tighter. "I should kill you."

"Miss Brookstone, I have questions of my own." Pixal stated swiftly, which caused her to toss Ronin up and grab his suit again. The thief coughed and swallowed. "What was your target?"  
"Who's this 'GSS'?" Cole piped in, he was always least informed about everything. Even after his father died he didn't know until a week after, and both Pixal and his mom knew.  
"Garm SoundSystems, they were a company in the droid rat-race, specialized in robots, androids. Their droids were faulty, fell apart easy from simply being used. God knows why they wanted to start their projects again 30 years later, but they wanted a better base to work with. Hired me to take your droid there but she moved out of the way at the wrong time. There, you happy now?" he spat, desperately trying to get out of her grip.  
"Where can I find this company?" Miss Brookstone asked.  
"The hell if I know!" He was thrown to the ground again, the thud echoing through the building. Coles mom dusted herself off before taking her leave, Cole kicking Ronin in the ribs on the way out leaving Pixal to stare.  
"If I see you near my family again, I will make sure you do not see the light of day." She hissed, walking out and slamming the door behind. Ronin sighed, he deserved that he was sure. Squinting up at the stage light he sighed, suppose a way to start righting his wrongs was to at least turn it off. He just wanted to go home.

-o-o-

Lloyd played around with one of the various knick knacks that were found in the desk drawer, "You know this place sure is full of toys. For a thief, you would think he wouldn't have any. Oh hey a Rubix cube!" Echo tended to the cleaning while Nya and Kai were asleep upstairs. It was only the early hours of the day, Lloyd always woke up at odd early hours. "Hey Echo, catch." He tossed the puzzle box over to him, in which Echo inspected thoroughly.  
"Father used to have one of these, he would play with it and mess it up and I always would fix it for him," the droid proceeded to spin the sides, solving the cube within seconds before setting it on the shelf, "there we go."  
"Really? You had a father?"  
"Of course I did, he built me. We played a lot of games and did a lot of work. He let me watch him built my older brother." He chirped, "Do you not have one yourself?"  
Lloyd looked down and dug his foot into the floorboards, "Uh.. well, I know who he is but he's.. Never around. I don't really know him…" Echo gave him a concerned glance before setting the broom against the shelf and walking over. "I've only ever heard stories, but he sounded really awesome. I wanna be just like him!... ahh.. I just.. Wish I knew what happened to him…"  
"Did something happen? Is he lost? What is his name, maybe I know something about him." Echo offered, but frowned when his friend hesitated.  
"I-its.. Garmadon… Lord Garmadon…" he glanced away from Echo's surprised face. There was a moment of silence left to assumptions. "Let me guess, you don't want to be my friend anymore because my father is an evil overlord..?"  
"W- no, no that is not.. I recognize that name as all, Lloyd. Though I had never seen him, I know the name. I believe my father had made a deal with him."  
"Really? What kind of deal? Were they close?"  
"I am.. Not sure. But I believe he was asked to build something for him… I will have to ask my brother when he returns, perhaps he knows more?" The door flew open as the thief stepped through and slammed it shut. He seemed..mad about something or another, the two were quick to step aside.  
"Heyyy, Ronin!" Dareth popped up from the floor, "Hey, I got some news for you! Turns out you didn't kill me! I was haunting you for no reason, what are the chances? Haha!" Ronin's stare went directly through the ghost, his soulless gaze piecing the soul. He walked through him and through the back room, stomping down the stairs. Dareth shivered and sighed, "Well sheesh , I was just trying to lighten the news no need to be dramatic."  
"Dareth, If you weren't dead now you would be." he called before the sound of another door was slammed.


	14. Chapter 14

" _Whoever these people are, they sure seem desperate." Ronin remarked, watching the four of them file into the studio with their instruments slung around their backs.  
_ " _Oh yeah? Say, who are you four huh? What brings you here?" the manager swiveled back and flicked the 'On Air' sign on. Ronin laid back, mindlessly turning left and right in his own chair. This wouldn't be the first time a hodunk band from nowhere wandered in, ever since the radio announcement giving everyone a 'free try to fame', numerous ones had walked in. Numerous bad ones that is, his hopes for this one wasn't very high.  
_ " _Well we heard your radio advertisement. Originally we went to producers but after being turned down a few times things are lookin' a little grim. But ahh, who knows what'll happen you know?" the lead singer laughed boisterously, his gold pendant chiming against the neck of his guitar as he tuned it.  
_ " _So you've walked around to these guys houses and started strumming is what you're saying? What was more effort in, finding their houses or finding a time to catch them in their bathrobes?" Ronin snarkily asked, gaining a few laughs from the band members. At least they were in good spirits._

 _"Hey Goldstar these radio heads dun gone hate us!" The drums were slammed on in a beginning solo before the tempo was set for the other instruments to join in. Ronin and his higher up flinched from the unexpected start, but as the song went on they couldn't help but tap a foot or two. Ronin found himself double checking to make sure that the 'On Air' sign was lit as well as having the phone disconnected- how could any producer put these guys down? They danced and went all out, it was as if music was their playground inviting everyone to join in and swing._

 _"What's your group name huh? And more importantly, what's your name?" Ronin asked a little too closely to the microphone._

 _"Im Dareth, Ace is on the keys, Randal on the drums, and Jason on the bass. We're Brown Suede Shoes, thanks for having us on here."_

Ronin groaned and rolled over in his cot, it had been a long time since he had a memory dream, but at least it wasn't anything bad this time around. At least he was in his own bed, the weird lab beds in Borg Tower always made him a little uneasy.

"Good morning Ronin." The thief jumped, eyes focusing on the yellow lights and face that smiled back at him.  
"JESuS- oh.. It's just you. What do you want?" He yawned, rubbing his eyes. Huh, still have to get used to the metal.

Breakfast is ready when you are~!" He chimed before skipping off.

"Breakfast..? uhg, what time is it.. who's cooking?" Ronin groaned, pulling himself from bed and realizing that he was still in his suit. Maybe a change of clothing would be good today, he did have to do laundry and try to get some of the blood splatter out of it...

"Mmnnn, oh come on Dareth its been close to ten minutes he's not coming up." Kai shifted on his feet, everything laid out on the table smelt like heaven to him especially at this hour.

The ghost slapped Kai's reaching hand away again with a wooden spoon, "Hey, I told you, Ronin gets first dibs. besides its only been about three."

"How did you even cook all of this in a timely manner? Wouldn't everything just go through you?" Nya chimed in, she too was hovering around though not being outward about it.

"Got all the dishes washed and dried, where do I put them?" Lloyd poked his head in, bandana around his neck and yellow rubber gloves to acquaint it.

"Allow me," Echo emerged from the stairwell to help his friend.

"Well, I had a little help. turns out I can't touch water without feeling like I stuck my hand into lava." Dareth folded his arms, a little put off by the fact.

"Can't touch water huh? I'll keep that in mind the next time I go out garden shopping." Ronin leaned against the doorway, Collared shirt hung loose with khakis and slacks, his hair up in a low ponytail. "Breakfast huh? Well go on everyone grab a plate-"

"No nonono, Ronin this is yours, you get first pick." Dareth waved his hands, to which Kai groaned and put the plate back.

"Well yeah but if you're expecting me to eat this on my own you have another thing coming."

Breakfast was passed around to everyone while Echo let the radio play from his speakers. Ronin sat from the far side, overseeing and chuckling to himself when Nya stopped her sibling from getting thirds.

"Hey.. I'm sorry for haunting you for so long, I had no idea it wasn't you, haha."

"Yeah, I knew that."

"Then... why didn't you tell me?"

"I DID tell you! You didn't listen to me! I told you so many times!" he pointed his for accusingly at him, "Well whatever, at least you can leave now without being bitter about everything."

"Ahh, hahah, yeah, about that." Ronin slowly looked up at him, squinting. "Uh, Yeah I'm cursed to an object in here and I can't leave without it, sorry." Dareth shrugged, smiling nervously. "Hey, how about some tunes huh? ahh, someone tell Echo to play station 14.104, that ones still around right?" Ronin just about choked.

"14.104? Never heard that station, is it new?" Nya made her way over to the droid, turning the dial and lining the needle.

"ts not new, its old-" the music that started playing was not what he remembered at all, "but it's not what it's used to be..."

"That's because there was a change of owners," Ronin sighed, "New owner, new rules, new traditions."

"Aw what? What happened to the old one? do you know him?"

"Guess he died." That caused a few pairs of eyebrows to raise. Feeling everyone's eyes he continued, "He couldn't juggle two jobs, but more importantly he was bought out, this guy named Justin bought him out." Ronin took another bite of grilled ham.

"Aw man, I knew a guy named Justin, I hated him. think he's the reason why I struggled so much as an artist, always one step ahead of me. Physically went to the Record-peoples houses and played but was shut out even there." the thief looked up, realization washing over him. "Was the first place I went to where I wasn't cut off- that station, had this thing going on and I was even Invited back to play again with my band. Ohh I miss those days..."

"B-brown Suede Shoes?"

Dareth smiled, "Hey, someone remembers! Well of course you know, you're big into that stuff-"  
"Yeah, one of my favorite bands. Loved it when they'd stop by and play a song while on tour." Ronins smile was broad, any sort of annoyance that was present in his eyes before washed away.  
"M-" he took a double take, "Mister Radio Man?"

-o-o-

Maybe he shouldn't have pushed Cole away like that. Even after he brought the good news at school it still didn't change the fact that Zane was still stuck in the hard clutch of Borg Tower. What horrible atrocities could be going on, the Synth was probably tortured to high hell. Or even worse, completely dismantled reassembled into a police officer with a laser pistol under Borg's control. He turned over in his bed before getting up. He had to do something, doing nothing just made everything worse. Maybe he'd go to borg tower personally, bring Cole and Pixal along and sneak through the vents. He'd have to bring flour just in case there were lasers, and would need to disable the cameras from the mainframe. Pixal knew the place better than him, he could ask her for mapping and sneaking, what works when and formulate a plan. Jay made his way to the door, swinging it open and- Zane had held up his fist ready to knock but let it down with a chuckle.  
"Hey Little Blue, beat me to the knocking I see." The droid pulled jay by the arm into a hug, squeezing him and smelling his ginger curls. There was no way, this had to be a dream. Zane never talked, this had to have been a dream.  
"Zane…?"  
"Yes?" his calm soothing voice rung through Jay, and if he didn't have bones he swore he would melt. He wrapped his arms around, squeezing tightly as he buried his eyes into the droid's 's all he needed now was to hold him, shivering and sobbing, fingers running gently up and down the back of his sweater.  
"I thought I'd never see you," he looked up, "I thought you were d-decommissioned, I thought- I though- I was so scared… what happened..? How did you escape?"  
Zane's face went flat, "I walked here."  
"Wh-" that didn't make sense, "What do you mean? You didn't sneak out there wasn't lasers and saws and sharp pointy things trying to kill you?"  
"No. Borg fixed my voice and my eyes and I left. I told him that someone was waiting for me, and he let me leave. Thought I meant more than what I said, he seemed to understand." He let go and rested a hand on Jays shoulder, "Being away gave me time to think about what I am about to do."  
"What you are-" the breath caught in his throat as metal plating connected against his cheek, a light 'click' noise released before Zane pulled back.

"Jay, When I first saw you when you woke me up, I knew you were the one. I stared, afraid to move you in your angelic sleep," his voice became whimsically accented, "Then you opened your eyes, and in the rain of feathers it was as if the stars aligned… Then I learned your name… and I was blessed from above! Jay Walker, the most perfect person for me, I hope I am the most perfect being for you- I-I want to be." He was.. Speechless, staring into the icy blue eyes if his taller counterpart… whose face was gradually being lit up more and more blue. Zane covered his eyes, "Actually.. I thought you were dead.. I was going to poke your face." Jay snorted, covering his mouth before laughing, tears streaming down his face.

"Oh my gosh Zane.. you're so.. Perfect. Come here!" Jay jumped into his arms, kissing

the bridge of his nose and laughing. Zane slid the shades on his eyes, beaming as he began to run. Oh how he wished he had skin… then he'd have the lips to kiss him right back.


End file.
